


Slidestars

by Rico_the_Skunk



Series: Slidestars [1]
Category: Sliders (TV), ビースターズ | BEASTARS
Genre: Canon Divergence after Chapter 180, Manga & Anime, Manga Spoilers, Multiverse, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:00:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24755923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rico_the_Skunk/pseuds/Rico_the_Skunk
Summary: "What if you found a portal to a parallel universe?What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds?Where it's the same year, and you're the same person,but everything else is different?And what if you can't find your way home?"Jack the Golden Labrador would have to ask himself these questions after finding a sliding timer in his college, and tried to use it to escape his lonely life. Dragging his old friends along the journey, Jack will soon learn that no matter how bad things seem, it can ALWAYS be much worse...As of Chapter 180, the Beastars world is set in Christmas 2018, determined with age clues and dates. This fanfic starts in mid April 2019, where the 701 boys will have graduated Cherryton Academy by then. Given the nature of this fanfic, the "Home Universe" MAY have slight differences from the manga canon after Chapter 180. Info gathered from future chapters MAY be added to this Universe's history, granting it makes sense for these interpretation of the characters.
Series: Slidestars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790287
Comments: 23
Kudos: 45





	1. Prologue Pt 1, Jack's Discovery

Prologue, Jack’s Discovery

Dog. The word was the name given to dozens of genetically manufactured species of canines, designed to be more intelligent than their ancestors, but more importantly, have no carnivorous instincts. They were bred through years, perhaps even decades of trial and error to socialize with herbivores and to be kind to a fault. The dog species has been successfully implemented into animal society all across the globe, living amongst both herbivores and carnivores, seeming to be the middle ground. These benefits for society, however, came at the expense of the dogs. Designed to fit in with herbivore society, not only were dogs gifted with heightened intelligence, but burdened with impulsive obedience, and with little to no emotions of sadness, being made to make others happy. Most dogs were content with this way of life, rarely ever questioning their existence or their purpose, but one young dog became aware. A Golden Labrador named Jack, a senior at Cherryton Academy, one of Japan’s most inclusive high schools. Around the late summer of 2018, Jack went to a special class with four other dogs, to learn secret history and social taboos. As Jack learned the horrid truth about the Great War, he became fully aware of his strange life, and of his intended purpose. Determined to take control of his own fate, Jack made a life changing discovery…

“Fascinating,” Jack whispered at his desk, turning a cell phone shaped device in his golden hands. He looked over to his right to observe the readings of a multimeter he attached to the machine, taken aback by the readings. “How can such a small piece of tech generate this level of power? You would need a dozen batteries to maintain this power flow for just a few minutes, but I haven’t seen the display go off since I found this thing!” The display Jack is referring to is digital, glowing yellow digits like an alarm clock. Below the display are tactile number keys, each one circular and bubble-like in appearance. The casing of the device itself is a metallic ocean blue, rounded at the bottom with wavy indents travelling down the sides. The back of the device, where one would assume the batteries are stored, has a raised design of flowing seaweed, in a metallic green, in the shape of an arrow, pointing downward, as the two top ends of the stalks creep over the top of the device. The tips wrap around two prongs jutting out of the top, which also appear to glow dimly. “Whoever invented this clearly has an affinity for the ocean.” Jack removes the connectors of the multimeter from the prongs of the device, deciding he had enough readings.

Jack leans back in his chair and scoots away from his desk, device in hand. He slowly spun around in his swivel chair, taking in the sites of his new college dorm room. It had been about a month since he and the 701 boys graduated from Cherryton Academy, the tightest pack of friends you could ever find. Miguno, Durham, Voss, Collot, Legosi and Jack had spent their high school years growing up, never thinking they would separate. When Legosi dropped out Cherryton before the end of their second year, it was a wake-up call for Jack that this wouldn’t last forever. He was hopeful that they would all remain in contact, especially when Legosi surprised them at graduation and threw them a huge party. Legosi had fought a cheetah-gazelle hybrid named Melon that had taken over the Back-Alley Market, and was making an intense stir in society. After Melon was beaten by the wolf, Jack learned the truth about who took out Riz on New Years Eve 2017, and why Legosi dropped out in the first place, when the Beastar Yahya himself openly removed a predation offense and awarded Legosi a total of 30,000,000 yen for defeating the hybrid. He used about 200,000 for the party, and the 701 boys had the time of their lives. The next day, however, they all said their goodbyes to one another and went off to start their separate college journeys (sans Legosi). 

That was about a month ago, but Jack felt like it had been a lifetime since he last saw or spoke with his pack of friends. He didn’t think going to college to start the next phase of his life would put such a strain on his emotional health, but moving into a brand new dorm with people he had never seen before, the immense amount of schoolwork in short amounts of time, and having to try and start over making new friends after leaving his pack, proved to be overwhelming for the Golden Labrador. Jack spent most of his time in the school library, reading any books he could find to try to fill the empty space that was once filled with fun times with the 701 boys, because despite his friendly and upbeat nature (a predetermined trait thanks to breeding), this new environment made it unusually difficult for Jack to make new friends. In fact, it was in the library that Jack found the strange device in the first place, tucked away between the science fiction shelf and a book on Multiverse Theory. Looking back on it now, Jack began to wonder if there was any relation between the device, and the isle that he had found it in.

Jack’s thumb absent-mindedly rubs up along the side of the device as he reminisces, and presses a thin button that matches with the casing. The prongs on the device start shining brightly and the digital numbers on the display start spinning rapidly, a crackling sound booming out of the device. “Oh God, what did I do?!” Jack fell off of his chair and landed on his butt, the device still clutched tightly in his hand and whirring. “This level of output is impossible!” The prongs then expel a beam of blue light that expands outward into a large hole. It stands in the middle of Jack’s dorm several inches off of the ground, bending the light around its perimeter. Jack stared in bewilderment, amazed at what he was seeing before his eyes. He was so shocked that he didn’t feel his feet brush along the carpet as the wormhole began pulling the Labrador in with blistering speed. Jack snapped out of it, but by then he was already off the ground, soaring directly into the eye of the vortex. He couldn’t even blurt out a single letter before travelling through the portal in an instant, disappearing into thin air.

“Jack, hey. Wake up. Why are you on the floor?” The dog felt a hand press against his shoulder repeatedly, soon after beginning to feel the carpet in his dorm against his arms and face. After a few seconds, Jack realized his eyes were closed, so he slowly opens them, letting them adjust to the lights and come into focus. “Who…” Jack finds the strength to push himself up into a standing position while rubbing his sleepy eyes, turning around to see a blurry figure standing beside him, “Who are you? What are you doing in my dorm?”. He sees the blurry figure tilt their head to the side as if Jack had asked them what color the grass was, then reach out to place their hand on Jack’s forehead. “Did you fall out of your swivel chair, Jack?” the figure spoke with a deep but soft masculine voice, one that resonated with Jack instantaneously. ‘Hang on’, Jack thought, ‘it can’t be’. He began to use his canine nose to sniff the air, picking up an all too familiar scent from the man in front of him. Jack blinked rapidly to speed up the process of his vision sharpening, and after a few seconds stood with his mouth agape. The man in front of him was a gray wolf, one that he had known since he was 11. It was Legosi. The gray wolf spoke up after some moments of silence, “I told you that getting a carpet wouldn’t go well with a swivel chair. It looks like you caught the wheels on the edge.” Legosi moved away from the flabbergasted Jack to tend to the swivel chair, but returned immediately after finding nothing wrong with it. “Huh, I don’t know how else you could’ve fallen…” while Legosi went on about guessing how his friend fell, it gave Jack time to notice that something was off about Legosi’s appearance.

For starters, Legosi didn’t appear to have any scars on him. Jack learned just how much hardship Legosi had gone thru after he had dropped out, his friend telling him and the other 701 boys when he barged into their Cherryton dorm last summer, pale as a ghost, asking for a place to hide from the cops. It was a scary sight to see his childhood friend scratched and covered in wounds that night. But the Legosi in front of Jack right now had no blemishes to speak of on his blue-gray fur, looking more or less the same as he did two years ago. His teeth also looked like his original wolf fangs before he tore them out to prove a point to the Beastar. This Legosi looked like he had lived a normal life. Jack, in a fit of confusion, blurted out “What happened to your scars, like the one Riz gave you on your eye?”, snapping the wolf out of his monologue and glancing at the Labrador. “Riz? The bear that killed Tem? He was arrested after I told the police about him.” Jack shook his head in disbelief. “You told me that you fought Riz New Years Eve 16 months ago to save Pina. Louis came in and gave you his leg so you could win.” This wolf claiming to be Legosi stares at Jack with large eyes, the exact same eyes that Jack knew. Only one wolf had those kinds of eyes. “I remember I ALMOST got into a fight with him. It was when Tai tore off Kibi’s arm by accident, and Riz and I took him to the infirmary. I confronted Riz about Tem and he confessed before growing really strong and threatening to take me out. Pina interrupted us with his usual behavior before things got physical. After watching over Kibi until the doctors and police arrived, I told the cops what Riz had told me, and they interrogated him. He was arrested soon after, and the school rewarded me. Not a whole lot happened after that; I reconnected with my grandpa after 5 years, I learned how to master my instincts, and I got together with Haru.” Legosi looked at his friend with concern. “Do you need to go to the infirmary, Jack? You must’ve hit your head pretty hard to not remember the last year or so. I mean, how can you forget the party you and the guys threw for me that night?”

Jack could not believe what he was hearing. Either Legosi was lying, or something was completely different. “Hey, what’cha got there in your hand, Jack?” the gray wolf pointed to the Labradors still clutched hand, in which Jack had completely forgotten about the device he was toying with just minutes ago. He lifted it up in front of him and looked at the display for any clues to the situation. The yellow numbers on the display were arranged in a long row of twelve digits, divided in pairs of two by colon marks, with the majority of the numbers being zero except on the end to the right, where the first three digits read out 1:26, and was decreasing in value by one every second. Using this information, Jack concluded that the display functioned as a timer. A timer for what though, he had no idea. 'I found this thing in the library,' Jack thought, 'in the science fiction section. Next to a book about multiverse theory. Don’t tell me… No, that’s ridiculous! There’s no way that-.' “JACK?!” A cry from Legosi broke Jack from his train of thought and back into ‘reality’, where he was greeted by a sight that confirmed his newfound suspicion.

Standing in the doorway of the dorm was another Golden Labrador, one hand on the doorknob, and the other cradling thick textbooks. He was wearing a pair of cargo shorts with blue sneakers and socks, a gunmetal gray v-neck t-shirt, and the same pair of glasses that Jack owned at home. In fact, this Labrador had a lot of similarities with Jack: he had the same nose, same muzzle shape, same ears, same eye color, and even the same teeth. “Who the heck is he, Legosi?” the Labrador asked with a quake in his voice. The dog slowly closed the door behind himself and approached Jack with caution. He began sniffing the air, which prompted Jack to do the same. 'Only one way to find out…' Jack took in all different kinds of whiffs, thinking that the way he sniffed would change the scent of this eerily familiar Golden Lab. But there was no denying it at this point. This Labrador didn’t just look like Jack, he WAS Jack, right down to the exact same scent! Legosi stood in the middle of the two dogs, looking frantically at one, and then the other rapidly until he got dizzy. “This… isn’t… riiiiiiiiight…” was all the wolf was able to mutter before he ran for the bathroom, confused, and overwhelmed from the scent of his best friend coming on twice as strong from two identical dogs.

“Le-legosi!” The Jack with the glasses turns away from the Jack in front of him and rushes toward his friend, leaving the Jack with the timer in a state of shock. 'Oh my God. There’s no denying it now…' Jack raised the device back up, staring at the timer display. There were only seven seconds left on the timer. Jack could hear the machine begin whir and crackle, the prongs starting to flicker to life. 'What happens when the timer reaches zero?' The timer read two seconds, the number buttons flashing a simple pattern, a bolt of electricity coming to life between the prongs, and the device itself seemed to be screaming. Not knowing what else to do, Jack held the device out in front of him like a toy gun, pointed at the ground. After a heart pounding second, the timer struck zero, and spewed another beam of light from its prongs. A portal just like the first one opened up on the floor, except this time was horizontal and directly connected with the floor. That didn’t change the level of power it had, though, as Jack was once again sucked through the vortex in the blink of an eye, gone as quickly as he appeared. The portal closed just as Glasses Jack and Scarless Legosi reemerged from the bathroom, bewildered at where the look a like could’ve run off to.

Jack was launched upward from his floor on the other side of the wormhole, miraculously landing straight onto his bed. Once the shaking stopped, he looked around and saw the multimeter on his desk he had used earlier, the swivel chair he had fallen off of, which now had a broken wheel, and a butt-shaped scuff mark on his carpet where he landed. Jack breathed a sigh of relief knowing he returned to his original world, but then produced another sigh in bitter sweetness, remembering that he was back in a world where the 701 boys had gone their separate ways, where Legosi had suffered through so much hardship just to earn the right to love who he wanted, and a world where Jack felt alone. He looked down at his hand holding the device he would now refer to as ‘The Timer’, seeing that the numbers on the display were all replaced with dashes. 'Must mean that it’s as “off” as it can get,' Jack concluded. 'Only question remaining is… how do you work?' A smile grew and crept across Jack’s lips, the first smile he was able to make in a long time…


	2. Prologue Pt 2, Where they are now.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Jack goes and studies the strange timer he's found, we cut to see what Legosi, Haru, and Louis have been doing since the defeat of Melon. Their lives all seem to have improved substantially, but will a lonely Jack barge in and shake everything up?

Prologue, where they are now.

“46… 47…” Sounds of metal clanging, feet stomping, and fists colliding with hard leather bags echo and encompass a local fitness gym, filled with a wide arrange of animals, both herbivore and carnivore. While the herbivores were grouped together at the cardio machines, the big carnivores were working on their muscles with the heavy weights. “48… 49…” At one of the bench-press stations, one can find a well-known grey wolf exercising his tense biceps, completely focused on his task and close to his goal. “50!” With a triumphant cry of his goal, Legosi strains and manages to properly put the barbell back in its rightful resting spot, and pushes himself up to a sitting position. “Whew, alright… 50 reps with 90 kilograms… getting closer to my goal every week!” Legosi reaches over to his left and lifts a large water bottle up to his parched lips, taking big well-deserved swigs. Once he’s satisfied, Legosi gasps with relief and stands up from the bench-press station, and proceeds to walk to the locker he put his stuff in when he first arrived at the gym. About halfway through the main room, Legosi is stopped by a carnivore and an herbivore, a hawk, and an antelope to be specific.

“Hey, you’re Legosi, aren’t you?” The hawk pointed at the wolf and smiled with his beak, holding the antelope’s waist with his wing. Legosi looked back at the two and nodded. “That’s me! How can I help you two?” The antelope stepped forward to Legosi and proceeded to speak. “My boyfriend just wanted to thank you for what you did back at Christmas in the BAM. Without your intervention, carni-herbi relations may have completely fallen apart. But your fight against Melon and dedication to your mate inspired him and many others to seek out ways to control and master their instincts.” The hawk butted in for his turn to speak. “It hasn’t been the easiest journey, but thanks to you, I’ve managed to find a therapist, and have been meat sober for two full months as of today! Now, herbivores trust me more, and I feel like I can be around them without feeling like I could hurt them.” Legosi stared at the two and his smile grew wider. “I did what I had to do, I fought for not only my right to be with the one I love, but to prove that carnivores can use their instincts to protect herbivores.” The antelope pulled out her phone and raised it to beside her head. “Would you mind if we took a selfie with you?” Legosi chuckled, “Not at all! I’m always happy to see mixed relationships prosper!” Legosi fits himself between the antelope and hawk, bearing his reptile fangs in a shiny smile. Once the picture was taken, Legosi waved goodbye at the young couple, and left the gym with his possessions in tow.

It was no secret that last year, tensions between carnivores and herbivores were at an all-time high. After the incident with Riz, a bear student at Cherryton Academy, the school proceeded to segregate the dorms, thinking it to be a safety precaution. Outside of the school, a leopard-gazelle hybrid named Melon shook the foundation of the Back-Alley Market, making it more public and encouraging carnivores to express their love of meat in more open ways. For months, Melon had been growing his ideology and influence across the carnivore population. But on Rexmax Day, 2018, he was confronted by Legosi at the monthly turf war. Legosi had been hunting down Melon for months, working with Yahya the Beastar to clear his record. After fighting two of the toughest Yakuza in the BAM, Legosi and Melon had their final confrontation. It was a long and arduous battle, both sides suffering great injury. But in the end, Legosi managed to defeat the hybrid and turn him into Yahya, in front of everyone. Word was spread all over the city, and Legosi became an inspirational figure to carnivores who had developed feelings for herbivores. After recovering from his wounds and starvation in the hospital, Legosi wasted no time in showing Haru just how much she meant to him. He also accepted his immense strength, after years of being afraid of it, and developed a workout regimen to maintain, and even improve his already incredible power.

On the train ride from the gym to his apartment at the Hidden Condo, Legosi felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He reached in and grabbed it, looking at the caller ID. It was a newer phone, as part of Legosi’s reward involved a grand total of 30 million yen, so he treated himself and his loved ones for the first couple of months that year. He had expected Haru to have called him, maybe to discuss details about their movie date that night, or maybe what alcohol she was bringing, or maybe something Legosi use to squirm nervously at the thought of, but now was natural and second nature to him. Instead, the caller ID read “Jack”, with a picture of a smiling Golden Labrador. Legosi tapped “Accept” and raised the phone to his good ear. “Hey Jack, how’s college life treating you? It’s been a few weeks since I last heard from you!” Legosi’s tail wagged excitedly at the thought of his childhood friend, almost knocking over an elderly beaver moving behind him. “Oh, it’s been hard. Nothing a smart guy like me can’t handle!” Jack responded on the other end of the line. “How about you, Hero? I’ve seen some bears and cats work on their meat cravings on campus because of what you did. Never thought you’d influence so many animals.” “I’ve been fantastic! Haru and I have been catching up in our relationship, after all the time we spent apart. We’re actually supposed to have a movie date tonight at my place, followed by some intimacy, if you know what I mean, hehe.” Legosi certainly grew more comfortable with discussing his deep feelings about Haru once their relationship wasn’t considered illegal.

“Oh, you’re busy tonight?” Legosi could detect a hint of disappointment in Jack’s usually joyous voice. “I was actually wondering if you wanted to come over and see my dorm room. I finished decorating and it feels like forever since I’ve last seen you.” Jack sniffed up a nose dripping audibly, leading Legosi to push and ask another question. “Jack, are you sure you’re okay? I don’t have any plans for tomorrow, so I can come over then.” “No, no, I’ve got an 8 am lecture tomorrow…” Jacked sighed with defeat. “It’s okay, maybe some other time.” Before Legosi could reply, he heard his phone click, signaling that Jack had already hung up. > Jack, < Legosi thought, > I hope you’re doing alright… < Legosi remembered when Jack tried to kill himself. It was while Legosi was hiding from the cops until his fur turned gray again back in Mid-Summer. Jack revealed to Legosi that he had been using onions to try and make himself cry, because he was learning more about history and the truths behind the Great War, and was shocked that he was unphased by what he had heard. Things took a turn for the worst when Jack ate a whole onion in defiance of Legosi telling him to smile, which is fatal to dogs. Legosi had to make Jack throw up before he got sick. Legosi thought that after talking with Jack for a few days before he returned to his hunt for Melon, the Labrador would feel all better. But deep down Legosi knew that depression doesn’t go away so easily, having suffered through it for five years after his mother’s passing. > Please be okay, Jack… < Legosi thought of his friend for the rest of the train ride.

TWO HOURS LATER…

“And you’re sure he was upset?” Haru turned back to Legosi while she was chopping up green onions, her and Legosi had been cooking once he got home. “Haru, I’ve known Jack since before my mom died. We’re practically brothers. You know when someone that close to you is upset.” Legosi was heating up some rice on his oven, donning nothing but a bath towel. After a nice hot shower, he didn’t feel like putting on new clothes that were only going to be worn for three hours before it got dark, and he wasn’t going anywhere tonight anyway. “I know we haven’t seen each other since last month, but I didn’t think he’d miss me after such a short amount of time.” Haru steps beside Legosi on a step stool, and pours the freshly chopped onions into the cooking pot. Haru spoke up, “He seems like a guy that doesn’t get sad easily.” After Legosi won against Melon, he introduced Haru to all of his friends, from the 701 boys, to his neighbors at the Hidden Condo, to his own grandfather. It made Haru very happy that Legosi would be spending MUCH more time with her, after a whole year of fighting, sparse meetings, and almost dying on multiple occasions. In fact, Haru and Legosi’s relationship seemed to kick into overdrive, with them going on dates two to three times a week that first month to catch up on missed opportunities. They even managed to do something they had wanted to do for so long – make love to each other. That first time they did it sealed their relationship as worth all of the struggle they both went through to get to that point.

“You would think not,” Legosi kept eye contact with his girlfriend whilst stirring the onions and rice. “but I think he’s just growing up and losing his innocence. It’s not an easy thing for anyone to go through.” Legosi’s nub of an ear twitches at the sound of a timer going off, signaling that the noodles were done cooking. Haru proceeded to move the boiling pot off of the hot surface. “Well, he’s a really good friend to you, Legosi. Maybe we should have this date tomorrow night?” Legosi shook his head. “I have a late shift tomorrow, and school is ramping up for you, Haru. It could be several weeks before we can do this again.” Haru slowly nodded in agreement. Now into her second year of college, Haru was taking more courses in botany as part of her major, which while enjoyable, often left her exhausted and dirty. Not only that, but herbivores on her campus would constantly ask for advice about dating carnivores, as Legosi’s new-found recognition spread to Haru once it became clear who Legosi was fighting for. “Yeah, you have a point, Legosi. This week has been absolutely hectic with new assignments, new classes, and friends asking me how you and I work together. Hell, LOUIS of all people asked me for some tips when I ran into him at the market!” Legosi returned his focus to the small rabbit. “Louis has asked me on occasion what wolves like, but I didn’t know how to answer, because Juno is unique.” The wolf reaches up in some new cabinets he had installed and grabs a couple of bowls from them. “Dinner’s about done. What type of sauce would you like, Haru?” “Sweet n’ Sour.” Haru took her bowl from her boyfriend’s big, tender paws and filled it up with the yakisoba, applying the sauce onto it after. She sits crisscross in the center of the apartment with her food, and watches as Legosi approaches her, still wearing nothing but a bath towel. Haru couldn’t help but snicker as the big wolf swayed his hips in a teasing manner, the towel threatening to slip off. “When did you become such a Cosa-Nova?” Legosi sits down across from Haru, bowl in hand. “When I was able to fully express my love for you.” The wolf leaned forward and planted a kiss on Haru’s accepting lips. With a small bow of their heads, both animals cried out “Itadakimasu!” and dug into their home-cooked meal.

Elsewhere, a few blocks from the Hidden Condo, Louis the Red Deer is walking with his head held high, plastic bag hanging from the crevice of his elbow, and smile on his face. Yesterday had been one of the best days of his life and he wanted to thank Legosi and Haru personally for their advice. Louis’s life had done nothing but gone up after he resigned his leadership position at the Horns Conglomerate at the beginning of the year. During his Rexmas conference, Louis had brought to light the social taboo of the Back-Alley Market, and of Legosi’s fight. Animals found the deer’s story of his life as livestock, a business investment bought by Oguma, and who really took down Riz and ate Louis’s leg to be quite brave and eye opening to carnivore struggles. After everything had settled down, Louis made the decision to step down as boss, handing the position over to another high-ranking deer in his branch who would be a more capable choice for the responsibilities that came with running the Horns Conglomerate corporation. He shifted all of his focus onto his studies, which resulted in Louis improving his grades, reducing the weight of stress and expectations that come with managing a company. That lack of stress prompted Louis to get better sleep, and be on a more regular diet that would allow him to regain all the weight lost from overworking. He took his newfound free time between studies to get closer with Juno, as Louis had finally accepted his feelings for the beautiful wolf. It would still be another year before Juno graduated from Cherryton, so she and Louis would speak together at any chance they got. Yesterday was a huge breakthrough in their relationship. Louis took Juno out to see a movie, and then they had a large dinner at a fancy restaurant afterwards, where Louis leaned in and gave Juno a kiss, for the first time since the deer himself graduated from the Academy.

A few minutes later, Louis wraps his knuckles on the wooden door of Legosi’s apartment. He hears some movement from the other side before the door is cracked open. He sees Legosi’s large, reptile eyes peeking from behind the frame. “LOUIS! We were just talking about you!” “Ooh, lucky for me to come when I did, then.” Louis reaches into the black plastic bag and pulls out a bottle of red wine. “I thought I’d give you guys a thank you gift! Your advice totally helped me with Juno. I haven’t felt this happy for as long as I can remember!” Louis goes to push the door open, but is met with resistance by Legosi. “Heh, thank you, Louis. But Haru and I are on a date of our own, and I’m not exactly dressed for guests, if you understand what I’m saying.” Louis notices a sheen to Legosi’s blue-gray fur, and it clicks in his head. “Ah, I see. Well, you can take this wine anyway,” the deer slips the heavy bottle through the crack of the door into Legosi’s paw, “I’ll leave you two love-critters to your date. The bathroom’s down the hall, correct?” The wolf gives a curt nod and thanks Louis for the gift. Louis then walks down the hall and enters the public restroom. Just as the door closes, a shadow can be spotted shambling up the stairs to the floor entrance. In its hand is an aquatic blue timer.

“Now, where were we?” Legosi walks back to his girlfriend with the wine bottle in hand, his towel wrapped around his strong body a little looser. Haru smiles and says, “I think we were gonna have an… early dessert?” Haru plays into the mood her boyfriend is setting up. Before she has a chance to get out of her own clothes for the day, another knock is heard on the door, this time more eager and intrusive. “LEGOSI! OPEN UP! THIS CAN’T WAIT ANY LONGER!” Legosi huffs in annoyance and turns back around to check the front door. “Jack, I-” Legosi is abruptly interrupted by the door being pushed wide open, sending him toppling onto the floor and almost losing his towel. Haru clutches her sensitive ears and lurches up to run to Legosi. “Oh God, Legosi! Are you okay?” Haru turns and sees a ruffled Jack towering over her. “Huh, I guess you really were on a date.” Jack turns his attention from Haru and looks at Legosi, who is rubbing a sore spot on the back of his head where he landed. Legosi looks right back at his friend, confused. “Jack, what’s gotten into you?! I’m sorry for not coming over, but-” “I don’t wanna hear it, Legosi!” Jack blurted out in a frustrated tone of voice. He pointed directly at the wolf. “Ever since you left me, my own life has gotten worse!” Legosi picked up a faint trace of beer in Jack’s breath. > How’d Jack even get beer? How long has he been drinking? < “Jack, are y-” “I had to go through learning the true horror of the Great War in that special history class, and the nature of my very existence!” Tears begin rolling out of Jack’s eyes, which have brown dried gunk caking his lower eyelids, suggesting he had been crying for a while now. “And just when I thought things would look up after Cherryton, I lose contact from all of my friends, the people I trusted, my own darn pack!” Jack whiffs up his nose drippings, and reveals the timer in his hand. “Well, I don’t know how, but I think I got myself a guardian angel. Take a look at this!”

Jack shows Legosi and Haru the timer he found at the library, showing off its reflective metal coating and elevator buttons. Haru and Legosi just stare at the contraption, and then back at Jack’s face, which had unnaturally shifted into a crazed smile. “What is it I’m looking at, Jack?” Legosi finally got up to a standing position, towel in hand covering his front. “It’s a dimension hopper! It can take you to any world you want! A world where carnivores and herbivores swapped roles! A world where dinosaurs survived and evolved to replace us. And a world where you never left Cherryton Academy, and we went to college together, staying best friends!” Jack stifled a burp before giggling to himself, staring intently at the display on the timer. Legosi’s eyebrows furrowed and his mouth held agape, completely taken aback by this shift in character. He turned to face Haru, and could see her body shaking ever so slightly. Even though Haru was mentally stronger than most rabbits, Legosi could tell that she was scarred. “Okay, Jack.” The Labrador snapped out of his hypnotic state with the timer, and looked up to see a furious Legosi. “I think you should talk with a school counselor. You’re clearly under a lot of stress, and are suffering from separation from the friends you’ve had for many years, and I think you should talk with someone. I should’ve come over when you called, I’m sorry.” Legosi stepped closer to Jack, his face slowly growing a more sensitive and nurturing expression. “Do you even hear yourself? Multiple worlds? You should know that’s only science fiction.”

Jack gave an attempt of a growl, holding the timer closer to his chest. “My existence is practically science fiction, Legosi! My family lineage was bred and experimented on until canines like me popped up and the herbivores declared us a ‘success’! With this timer, I have a chance to take control of my fate, and decide who I want to be!” Jack’s loud cries prompted a gasp from Haru, which made Legosi protective and angry. “Alright, give me that TV remote! I won’t have you come in here and scare my girlfriend on a date night!” Legosi grabbed onto the timer Jack was still holding. “HEY!” Jack kept his grip on the timer, and tried to slap Legosi away. It didn’t do anything, as Legosi was almost as swole as his mentor Gouhin. The wolf twisted the timer to try and slip it out of Jack’s hand, but the dog was too stubborn. “Guys, stop!” Haru ran towards the fighting canines to try and play peacekeeper. “This is ridiculous!” As Legosi and Jack were wrestling with the timer, their fingers and palms mashed a random assortment of buttons, entering unknown coordinates into the timer. Legosi’s thumb slid over the button on the side, and applied enough pressure to press it. The timer began whirring to life, the prongs glowing a bright light and sending out bolts. In shock, Legosi lets the timer go. “What the hell is going on?!” Jack’s eyes grow wide with terror. “You messed with the buttons and turned it on!” A pair of uneven footsteps can be heard thumping through the hall, and the three animals turn towards the entrance to spot Louis standing there, his hands still wet from washing them. “WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?!?” He looked liked a deer in headlights when the device burst forth a cone of light, and a portal opened in the middle of Legosi’s tiny apartment. “Oh no…” was all Jack could mutter before Haru became the first one sucked into the vortex, her being the lightest animal in the room. Legosi instinctively ran to save his girlfriend, towel flying off as he becomes the next victim. Before Jack can reach out to stop Legosi, Louis comes flying in the room and crashed into Jack’s back, sending them both careening into the blinding blue wormhole. As soon as Louis got all the way through, the giant wormhole collapsed, displacing Legosi and Haru’s dinner and sending the bowls crashing into the walls. A few seconds later, Sebun marches over to Legosi’s room from next door. “Legosi! Is everything alright?” She looks in to find no trace of her neighbor, or his guests. Just spilled yakisoba and a stray bath towel. “Legosi?...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm surprised at the attention this fan fic has gotten in such a short amount of time! I had some trouble writing this chapter, because I felt I had to give play by plays of what had happened to the other three characters, so if it has felt like this chapter dragged on or the pacing was off, please let me know. I want this to be a great fan fic, and would hate to see it perish so soon!


	3. The First Slide, Pt 1; You Don't Know What You Have...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our group of friends land in a world where dogs were bred specifically to be slaves. It isn't long until our dear boy Jack is captured by authorities, with the timer in hand. How will Legosi, Haru, and Louis save our golden boy?

“Honey, do you know when my dry cleaning will be ready for pickup?” A hyena couple is sitting down eating ramen together, in an apartment near identical to Legosi’s. “They should be ready by tomorrow, dear.” The wife blows to cool down her noodles. Before she can take a bite, a large vortex opens up on top of their table, pushing the ramen bowls off onto the floor. Both hyenas fall back in their seats, and before they have time to comprehend what has appeared before their very eyes, a white dwarf bunny spills out of the hole, followed by a large naked wolf, a Labrador, and a deer with a fake leg. They all roll around and crash into the walls, their ears ringing from the strange energy the portal gave off. “OH MY GOD!!!” the female hyena is mortified at the mess that has been made, and it’s made no better when she sees Legosi with no clothes on. The male hyena is equally shocked, wondering if what he’s seeing is real, or if he’s been working too hard at the office. Jack is the first one to stand up and take in his surroundings. His eyes grow wide at the hyena couple. “Um… sorry to barge in?” Jack nervously chuckles as he runs toward each of his friends to gather them. “Duki, call the police!” The female hyena lunges towards Jack to tackle the perceived intruder.

Legosi steps in the way and holds the hyena in place. “Where did you guys come from?” Haru and Louis are pulled to their feet by Jack and they run out the front door, timer in hand. “Hey, wait up, guys!” Legosi lets go and runs off after his friends. He catches up with them down the stairs near the Hidden Condo entrance. Nothing looked out of place, Legosi couldn’t spot any physical changes from the Hidden Condo back home. Louis is rubbing his horns, making sure they didn’t get chipped in the fall. “What the hell was that Jack?! What did you do?!” Haru has Jack tight by the ear and is furious. “Where are we?! Why were there two hyenas in Legosi’s apartment?” “Haru- OW! Stop! Calm down!” Jack grabs hold of Haru’s wrist and applies pressure to make her let go. “You saw the wormhole that opened up! We’ve traveled to a different world! I tried to tell you guys before, but you didn’t believe me!” Legosi reaches his friend and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Okay, okay, we believe you.” The wolf can see the dog’s tail start to wag, so he calms down as well. “We don’t know how this is possible, but we believe you.” Louis walks up to the Lab with his usual stern and authoritative expression and asks, “Now how do we get back, huh?” Jack lifts up the timer and turns it around to show the other the display. “From what I’ve gathered,” Jack began to explain, “after you travel through the wormhole and land in the other world, the timer powers off except for a countdown. I thought it might’ve been a cool-down function or for charging, but each time is different.” Jack peaks over to look at the display, which has started counting down from 03:26:04 in its usual yellow digits. “The first time I slid I-” Louis holds up his hand. “Did you say ‘slid’?” Jack blushes a little. “Well, I don’t really know of a better term for it, and ‘travel’ seemed unfitting, so I call it ‘Sliding’.”

“As I was saying, the first time I slid, I only stayed for about two minutes on the other world before the timer powered on by itself and sent me back to our reality. The next time I slid, I was stuck in a world populated with walking, talking dinosaurs for nearly 60 hours. The next time was only 15 hours.” As Jack is explaining the timer to his shaken friends, a zebra police officer is watching closely, talking with their partner on the radio. “The longest time-frame was a full 96 hours, on a world where strength reducers hadn’t been invented. I attended a bear body building competition to pass the time, and man, let me tell you…” Before Jack could say any further, the zebra officer approaches the group. “Evening officer.” Legosi bows his head. “What seems to be the problem.” The zebra looks at the bulky wolf in front of them, with a look of displeasure. “Well, for one thing sir, I’m writing you a ticket for indecent exposure.” Legosi looks down and remembers he had nothing on but a towel when he slid, which has been left behind. He covers his manhood with his big hands and bushy tail, clearly embarrassed as the officer handed him a ticket. “And another thing, I’m not seeing a lease on your dog, sir. Or is it your dog?” The zebra pointed to Louis; whose face was contorted into one of confusion. “My dog? I don’t understand.” “Well,” The officer pulled out what appeared to be a collar. “Whosever dog this is can’t just let it roam on its own.” The collar is wrapped around Jack’s neck. “HEY! What are you-” Jack gags as he is dragged to the officer’s car. “I’m taking you to the kennel, I don’t see any form of identification or ownership, so we’re gonna figure this out.” Legosi awkwardly waddles to the zebra dragging his friend by the neck. “You can’t do that, he’s my best friend!” The zebra turns around, jerking around a choking Jack. “Do I have to charge you with consumption of drugs, sir?” They take a look at the Golden Labrador tugging at the rough, scratchy collar, and shove him into the back of the car.

The car zooms off down the street. Legosi, Haru, and Louis are left clueless. “Drug consumption? Why would they say that?” Legosi turns around to look at his friends. No one says anything until Haru breaks the silence. “Guys, Jack had the timer. If what he said was true, we have less than 3 and a half hours to get home! Not only that,” Haru leans to her side to spot something down the street. “but something’s seriously wrong with this world…” She points over to where she’s looking. Legosi and Louis turn to see a Dalmatian holding several bags of groceries, wearing a red collar. Next to him is an anteater, grasping a leash and tugging the dog along. The sight of this would be comical if not for the labored expression on the Dalmatian and the impatient look of the anteater. Louis pulls out his phone and scrolls to his internet browser. “Well, they got internet. Let’s look for a diner or something and see what we can find out about this place.” “Um…” Louis is alerted by Legosi, who just gives a nervous smile. “And find you a pair of clothes, Legosi.” The group walks down the street, Louis holding his phone scanning for the closest Wi-Fi signal, Legosi shamefully hunched over to try and cover up as much he can from passersby, and Haru holding Legosi’s hand trying to comfort him.

About ten minutes later, the group is sitting at some nighttime café. Legosi had found a pair of shorts and a sleeveless white undershirt hanging off a clothesline. He scratches himself as he looks over Louis’s shoulder. “Have you been able to find anything, Louis?” The red deer is scrolling through articles on a historical database, his brows furrowed. “Indeed… but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t concerning.” Louis moves so that Haru can see what he’s looking at too. “This world’s history alters from ours starting almost 100 years ago. After the Great War, scientists proceeded to try and breed calmer and softer carnivores, just like in our world. But when they discovered how obedient dogs could be, their intentions became… warped. Herbivores decided that dogs would serve better as servants, so once the breeding was perfected, they started auctioning off dogs to the highest bidder.” Pictures accompany the history article Louis is scrolling through, depicting a varied assortment of dogs holding up signs that read off what jobs each breed excelled at, all the while with an elephant at a podium, presumably auctioning off the dogs to an unseen crowd. “Later on, carnivores began purchasing dogs, expanding the market with the creation of dog pounds, where an animal can just walk in, fill in some paperwork and pay an astonishingly low price for the dog of your choice.”

“HEY MUTT!” An authoritative shout echoes through the café, directed at a stout pug wiping down a table. He turns around to meet his boss, a puma, who towers over the quivering dog. “Yes, Master?” “Can you explain to me why there is a trail of hair following you around?” The puma points to stray mocha furs resting on the tile floor. The pug’s eyes bug out more than usual. “Um…” A swift WHACK with a newspaper on the back of the head cuts off the dog’s answer, causing him to whimper. “What did I tell you about shedding, Mutt?” The puma grabs hold of the pug’s collar. “You need to clean up after yourself, too. Not just the customers. Don’t forget how cheap you canines are!” “Yes, Master…” The pug slave gets down on all fours, and proceeds to sweep up the fur with a dustpan hanging from his belt.

All while this was happening, Legosi and the others were transfixed at the horrid interaction. “Good God, that’s terrible!” Haru breaks the silence. “How could people stoop so low? Dogs are living creatures! Sure, dogs on our world were bred to make a calmer carnivorous species, but they’re allowed to live their own lives!” Legosi has his head in his paws, his mind racing with scary thoughts. [What are they going to do to Jack? What if they hurt him?] The buff wolf stands up from his chair, gardening the attention of his compatriots. “Louis, do we have any idea where that zebra took Jack? Is there one of these ‘dog pounds’ nearby?” With a few taps in the search bar, Louis pulls up a map of the town, with markers spotting the area telling the group local dog pounds. “I’m picking up at least three dog pounds, and they’re pretty spread out. It could take too long to go to all of them.” “Lemme see.” Haru reaches for the phone and enters an address on her own phone. “If we each go to one, it will be more likely that we’ll find Jack before time runs out.” The rabbit gestures for Legosi’s phone and puts in the address of a different pound. “I hope that our phones will still work as… well, PHONES. Wherever we find Jack, we’ll also need to find the timer. It’s fair to say that he won’t have it in his back pocket, it was probably confiscated.” Haru hands back two of the phones to her friends. “Alright, we haven’t got any time to waste.” The three travelers depart the café and split off in three directions.

Time until next slide: 02:52:38…

[This can’t be happening. This can’t be real. How could anyone think this is okay?] All these thoughts and more whirled around in Jack’s head, who was tugging at the leash attached to his neck, the other end latched onto the grating separating the back of the police car from the front. He had been trying to comprehend the situation for over half an hour, looking out through the car window and seeing things that made him feel sick. In the short time he had been on this world, he saw a goat tie a Boston Terrier to a tree outside of a bar, with her tying the leash too high up for the dog to comfortably sit down, leaving him stuck standing while the goat ordered drinks inside. A few minutes later, he saw a giraffe showing off his Chihuahua, who had been dressed up in an infantile outfit, and was being laughed at by the giraffe’s friends. Several minutes after that, he watched in helpless shock as he witnessed two wolves kicking a large St. Bernard down on the curb. Jack had asked why those wolves were attacking that dog, the zebra officer scoffed at the Labrador. “You’re kidding me, right kid? Why hire a wolf that could potentially lash out and eat a customer when you can just spend less than 10,000-yen ONE TIME on a much softer, more controllable dog, and have that dog work for free? This has put countless wolves and other carnivorous canines out of work, and a lot of hatred in their impoverished hearts.” Jack couldn’t help but look down in undeserved shame. [God, what does that mean for this world’s Legosi?] Jack’s eyes widen a bit as another thought crosses his frazzled mind. [What does that mean for me? Or Collot? What about my friends? There’s no way a dog like me would be allowed in school on this world. I’m the reason Legosi attended Cherryton Academy in the first place. He was in a dark, dark place for most of his life… What if-] Jack’s train of thought is interrupted by the zebra stopping their car. “Alright, Mutt. We’re here. Hand me your leash when I open your door.” The zebra exited the vehicle, and walked around the back to let Jack out. He looked through the grating to see if the officer had put the timer somewhere in the passenger’s seat. His ears folded when his search turned up fruitless. “Looking for this, Goldie?” Jack snapped his head around to see the zebra holding the blue timer in their hand, the display reading 02:50:17. “The boys in the National Security department are gonna have a field day with this contraption. What is it, some sort of bomb?” Jack’s eyes were fixed onto the timer, him panting nervously. The zebra takes notice. “Oh, does the wittle doggie want his toy? Huh? Huh?” Jack winces as he feels his tail instinctively wag in response to the officer’s sudo-playful demeanor. This brings a chuckle out of the zebra. “Hah, you mutts are all the same. No matter the size or the gender, you turn to putty in our hands when we show you any form of positive reinforcement!” Their demeanor quickly changes back into the dominating officer. “Now get out here and follow me. You’re gonna be in the holding kennel until we can figure out what this device is, and why an ownerless Golden Labrador was in possession of it.” Jack falls onto the pavement when the zebra yanks at his lease. He scrapes his left elbow and bruises his shoulder, but is given no time to comfort his wounds. “Come on! Get up!” Jack is forcibly dragged through the cold doors of a building that Jack could never have imagined being built: A Dog Pound.

The entrance room is pristinely clean, the floor reflecting back the fluorescent lights on the ceiling. One of the walls was laden with large posters, each of them having a different type of dog and a speech bubble. The one on the far right depicted a meek Shi-tzu washing dishes, with a stylized bubble reading “I CAN KEEP YOUR HOUSE NICE AND TIDY!” The next poster showed off three Rottweilers in construction gear shoveling dirt and lifting cement bags, a speech bubble from all three saying “WE CAN DO HARD WORK FOR HOURS!” The final poster on the left displayed a female fox, tear running down her cheek, but weak smile on her face. A Golden Retriever is holding her hand, calmly telling her “I CAN BE YOUR SHOULDER TO CRY ON!” There are two separate double doors on the back wall, with small windows. There is a receptionist desk in the middle of the sanitized room. Sitting behind said desk is an elegant toucan, skimming through a magazine. She picks up the sound of the zebra’s feet clicking on the floor and she looks up.

“Ah, Sam! Good to see you again! I see you’ve got another catch!” The toucan leans over to see the scuffed-up Jack, firmly held by the leash. “Evening, Teresa. How’s that German Shepard working out for you?” “Oh my gosh, he is a delight! He’s polite, patient, and really, REALLY good-looking!” Teresa pauses for a second to swoon over her slave’s appearance in her mind, before noticing the timer in Sam’s hand. “Whatcha got there? A universal remote?” The zebra shakes their head. “I can’t tell what it is. This Golden Lab here was showing it off to an odd group of animals, one of which was a naked gray wolf. I’m surprised that wolf didn’t have the mutt pinned to the ground.” Jack winces at the thought of how this world’s version of his childhood friend viewed domestic dogs. “It’s counting down, so my first assumption was a bomb. But why would a bomb need a keypad?” Sam extends their arm to show Teresa the aquatic-themed timer, which displayed 02:48:42. “Whatever it is, a dog has no right holding on to something this high-quality.” They hand over the timer to the toucan. “Can you store this in a safe place? I gotta get this dog processed, he ain’t got no owner.” “Can do, Sam!” Teresa cheerfully takes the timer, and places it in a sliding drawer underneath the front desk. “Tootiloo!” She waves off to the officer and Jack as the two passes through one of the sets of double doors into the rest of the building.

The first thing that hit Jack was the deafening sound of countless barks and howls blaring throughout the large room. He froze in place and slammed his hands onto his ears to block out the overwhelming wails, but they still reverberated in his mind. He couldn’t even hear Sam over the dozens of pleas for help, which didn’t sit well with the zebra. “Hey, open your eyes, mutt! I don’t need you tripping and damaging yourself further.” They snapped their fingers in front of Jack’s nose until he complied. He was greeted with the sight of an endless row of glass doors lining the wall left and right. After another second of inspection, Jack saw that each glass door covered a small, stone room, each one crammed with a single dog, all of varying sizes, genders, and breeds. They all had a food bowl filled with rough-looking brown bits of Jack didn’t know what, and a side of water. None of the dogs had any clothes on, not even the bright collars Jack had seen dogs on the outside wear. Jack was disturbed at how young some of these dogs looked, with some appearing as if they had just turned 13 (luckily they were permitted shorts and a tank top), while the oldest dogs looked like they were 50, but had the fur quality and stability of 80 year olds. Before Jack could take in more of his eerie surroundings, he bumps into Sam who has stopped in front of an empty kennel.

“Arms up!” Sam yelled out in a command, of which Jack instinctively followed. [Dammit, what am I doing?!] Jack was ashamed of himself for lacking self-control in this situation. Before he could dwell on his feelings further, Sam removed the scratchy collar from Jack’s neck, which had left an indent in his golden fur. Then, Sam forcibly lifted Jack’s shirt over his head and stretched out arms. Afterwards, they undid the Lab’s belt and pulled down his pants and underwear, exposing his privates to the other canines in the vast array of kennels. “Eh, someone could make it work.” Jack cringed at this zebra’s belittling comment, his embarrassment growing tenfold. “Step back and out of your pants!” Again, Jack followed Sam’s orders. [Why can’t I stop?] The Golden Labrador wanted to break down and cry, but he wasn’t given the chance as he’s pushed into the empty kennel. He falls on the smooth, but dense concrete floor, knocking the wind out of him. The glass door slams behind him before he can stand up, and locks. Jack presses against the glass to see Sam walking away without a single word, as if they had done this same job hundreds of times and didn’t feel anything anymore. Now, naked, sore, cold, and humiliated beyond belief, Jack cowers in a corner and begins to weep, his cries drowned out by the violent sea of other howls, barks, and growls. The sounds pound through Jack’s quivering body, with him barely able to hear himself think, [Please, Legosi. Haru. Louis. Someone please help me…]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, the first official new world! This chapter has ended up being split into parts, as it's been a while since I've last posted, and I didn't want to overwhelm my audience with such a drastic change in tone.


	4. The First Slide, Pt2; ...Until It's Gone.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legosi, Haru, and Louis split up to look for their captured friend. Meanwhile, Jack goes through hell and dread, learning how terrible life is for dogs on this world.

Time until next slide: 02:26:18…

“Excuse me.” Haru speaks up from in front of a desk. This catches the attention of the animal manning the station, a male porcupine. He lifts himself over the edge of the desk to meet the rabbit. “Are you guys still open? I’d like to ask about your… stock.” Haru whips out her phone and shows the porcupine a selfie of Jack Legosi had sent her a few months back. “Have you guys seen this Golden Labrador? He was taken away from me because he didn’t have a collar on. I tried to tell the officer that I was having his collar cleaned, but they took him away too fast.”

The porcupine studied the picture before turning to his computer and opening up the dog pound’s database. He scrolled through the list of dogs currently up for purchase, and he checked the “New Arrivals” section to see what kind of dogs were brought in that day. While he was doing this, Haru decided to take a seat in the lobby and collect her thoughts. The layout of the city was almost a direct copy of her world’s city, save for the addition of the dog pounds and large rice farms, so it was easy for her friends and her to find trains that would take them close to their assigned dog pounds to investigate. Once Haru got off of her train, she pushed herself past a group of drunk tigers, who wanted to take her out for a good time. [A shame the carni-herb relations are the same as on our world.], Haru thought to herself as she exited the train station, and made her way to a dog pound.

Haru’s long ears couldn’t help but pick up the muffled whines of countless dogs coming from behind a thick door in the back of the room. She grimaced and tried to ignore them, focusing on trying to contact Legosi or Louis to see if they had reached their destinations. To her dismay, Haru wasn’t getting a cell phone signal. [Of course,] she pondered, [I don’t have a provider or service plan in this world, so of course I can’t text or call anyone.] She put her phone back into her pocket and rubbed her forehead, the echoes of the enslaved dogs pounding in her head. She looked at the porcupine at the desk, wondering when he would be done searching for her friend.

“I’m sorry, miss.” The porcupine finally spoke up after several minutes. “We haven’t received any Golden Labradors this evening.” Haru’s ear folded down with defeat. “If you’d like, I can contact the other dog pounds, and see if they have your dog.” Haru gave a sheepish nod, sending the porcupine to get out from his chair and walk to the wall-mounted phone behind him. He picked it up and dialed in the number to the next closest dog pound. The phone rang three times before it was picked up with a cheery voice. “Uptown Dog Pound, this is Teresa! How may I help you? Are you calling in to report a runaway dog, or are you asking about our stock?” The porcupine waited for the toucan to finish before speaking up. “Naw. It’s me, Hiroki. From the Westside location.” “Ah, Hiroki sweetie, how goes things?” Teresa sat up a little straighter, always enjoying conversations with fellow employees, no matter how far away they were.

“Well, this female rabbit came in asking about her Golden Labrador. Apparently, she didn’t have him on a collar, so he was taken away. Have you guys come across this dog?” Unbeknownst to Hiroki, Haru was eavesdropping on the phone call behind a wall corner. She entered in “Uptown Dog Pound” into an online map, plotting a quick route for her to follow. Teresa made a gasp on the other end of the line, which caused Haru to listen in more closely. “Yeah, we just got one about thirty minutes ago. A young male. Hiroki, listen.” The porcupine presses the phone closer to his ear. “That Lab doesn’t belong to that bunny. Sam told me that they had found the dog hanging out with a white-dwarf bunny, a red deer with a prosthetic right leg, and a giant naked gray wolf. The wolf was going on about how the dog was his best friend, and they had this strange device that was counting down.” Hiroki preemptively pulled out his phone and was typing up notes. Teresa continued to speak, saying “We’ve called in some investigators to do background checks on the Labrador, and to study the device, make sure it isn’t a bomb or something.” Haru began to worry. Without the timer, they’d be stuck in this world for the rest of their lives, and Jack would be stuck in a living hell. [I could probably still email Legosi and Louis. Wi-fi still works for us.] “If one of those animals is at your location,” Teresa continued, “it means that whole group is looking for that dog. I’d keep an eye on that bunny, I’ll notify the Downtown location to be on the lookout for a deer or a wolf. Talk to you later, Hiroki.” The toucan hung up, leaving the porcupine with a phone filled with notes. He turned around to speak with Haru, but was met with an empty room. [Shit, I think we got ourselves a group of slave-liberators…]

Time until next slide: 02:13:56…

Louis bumped into a crocodile walking his dog, his attention affixed to his phone reading up more on this world’s history. “Oh my, I’m so sorry, sir!” The dog rushed to help Louis to his feet, the crocodile disappointed with his dog. After Louis got back up on his feet, the crocodile yanked his dog back forcefully, scolding him. Louis could hear the owner say, “Watch where you’re going, you dumb mutt!” as they walked away. The red deer shook his head and proceeded on his way. The downtown dog pound was only a couple blocks away. It was an uncomfortable and long train ride. Any dogs that were brought on board were swiftly shoved into the back of the train by staff. The way dogs were treated on this world bothered Louis, as he had been introduced to Jack shortly after Legosi recovered from his fight with Melon, and had quickly grown fond of him.

The dog pound was coming into view. Louis could see lights glowing from the front windows in the dark of dusk. Louis straightened up his tie and practices his business look. While researching this world’s history, the deer had gotten curious and looked himself up, wondering how this Louis turned out. Apparently, life for this Louis had gone along to Oguma’s plans for the young deer. Without Legosi to rope Louis into the mystery of Tem’s death, this world’s Louis hadn’t become leader of the Shishigumi, and was currently in college, still under heavy supervision by a now alive Oguma to be the next heir. Louis figured he could pass off as his alternate and purchase Jack from the dog pound, under the guise of needing a service animal to combat the stress of college and his dad’s expectations. With a reassuring breath, Louis stepped through the doors of the dog pound.

Before he could get a single word out, Louis was stopped by two police officers. Thrown off his game for a moment, the red deer recomposed himself before addressing the large bear and rhino before him. “Evening officers, did my dad request that I be protected? I don’t know how he could’ve known I was going into town, but it’s just like him to be worried.” The rhino officer looked down to meet Louis’s eyes, and then continued his gaze downward until he stopped at the deer’s prosthetic. “Sir, my partner and I have a few questions regarding an ownerless Golden Labrador. He was last seen hanging out with a white-dwarf rabbit, a hulking naked grey wolf, and a red deer with a fake leg.” Louis kept his business face, but felt a tinge of worry. “Officer, do you know who I am? I’m the heir to the Horns Conglomerate. I’m under a lot of stress, and came here to adopt a service dog to help calm me down and help me out with menial tasks. I got to get back on campus before curfew.” This time the bear stepped in his way and intervened. “Drop the act, kid. That make up you have on is pretty damn convincing, but the last time anyone checked, Sir Louis still has both of his legs!” The red deer’s demeanor fell down. [Dammit, why didn’t I cover my leg?] The police officers pushed into Louis further. “Start talking, kid.”

With quick thinking, Louis bashed his head forward, striking the two carnivores with his horns. The rhino was too phased, thanks to his thick hide. The bear, on the other hand, got stabbed in the cheek, and fell to the ground clutching the hole. “AIEEEEEEE!” The rhino bent down to check on his partner, reaching for his radio. “Officer down! Officer attacked by a suspect of the Golden Lab party! Suspect is physically disguised as Louis, heir to Horn’s Conglomerate, but has a metallic right leg! Keep your eyes open!” Said red deer was already out the door and a block away from the crime scene. When he was sure he was far away enough, he pulled out his phone to check a notification. It was an email from Haru, sent about two minutes ago. He opened it up and read it.

“Louis,  
I don’t have access to my contacts or texts. I think because we technically don’t have a service plan here, our phones are bricked in terms of phone calling. We’ll have to talk through email whenever there’s Wi-Fi near. I’m heading to the uptown dog pound that Legosi was assigned. I overheard the front desk talking with them on the phone, and they say Jack is over there. But be careful, they think the timer is some sort of bomb, and think that we’re terrorists. We got to get Jack and the timer ASAP. I’ve tried emailing Legosi, but he hasn’t replied.  
Haru.”

With that information, Louis sends Haru a quick email acknowledging the new location, and starts cutting through alley ways to shorten his trip. He would have to make it on foot, as he had no doubt that the authorities would be searching transportation for he and his friends.

Time until next slide: 01:32:04…

[This isn’t my phone.] Legosi finally came to this realization after an hour of lurking around the uptown dog pound, hiding in the shadows from a group of cops. When Legosi had gotten there, he didn’t know what to expect. The concept of a “dog pound” brought up images of dogs being pounded into puddles of mush in his mind. He relaxed when he saw the posters inside, suggesting that this isn’t a place where dogs go to die. He went over to the toucan at the front desk and asked about his friend. She seemed to have expected him, because the next thing Legosi knew, a group of black clothed animals emerged from behind a wall, guns pointed at him. The wolf had been in this type of situation more times than he cared to count. Legosi took the nearest chair and threw it into the crowd of police animals. He bolted out the front and made a beeline for an alleyway. There he covered himself in garbage to mask his scent from any cops with strong noses.

[Hang in there, Jack.] Legosi peeked around the corner for any cops looking for him. He smelled the air and couldn’t detect a single one, realizing that they thought the wolf had ran far away from the dog pound. While looking, he spotted a dot of white growing closer to his location. The scent was unmistakable. “Haru!” Legosi whispered loudly, knowing that his girlfriend would be able to pick up his call with her big ears. Sure enough, Haru halted her jog towards the dog pound and turned left to find Legosi.

“Legosi!” The white dwarf scurried into the alleyway and jumped into her boyfriend’s arms, nuzzling his broad chest. “Are you okay? I’ve been trying to email you for an hour.” Haru stops rubbing her cheek against Legosi’s peck when she feels a thin layer of grime wiping on her fur. Legosi chuckles nervously, saying “Yeah, sorry. I had to hide my smell, there were like five officers waiting for me when I got here. And I’m afraid to say, but I didn’t have my phone with me when we slid.” The wolf pulls out the bPhone 10 he had in his pocket. “This was in the pants that I took from that clothesline. How lucky am I, right?” Legosi puts the phone back in his pocket and sets Haru down. “Now, what were you trying to tell me?”

After wiping her stained cheek with her wrist, Haru spoke up and told Legosi how she overheard the desk operator at the westside pound call the uptown location. She explained how they confiscated Jack’s timer with the idea that it was a bomb, and that she, Legosi, and Louis were terrorists or slave liberators. “And now they know who to look out for, so I have no idea how we’re gonna get Jack out…” Haru began to tear up, remembering the muffled whines and cries coming from the backdoor, leaving her to imagine what horrible things were happening. She felt a finger push her chin up, and her gaze meets Legosi’s. “Hey, look at me.” Haru stared deeply into Legosi’s wide, reassuring eyes. “We’re gonna find a way out of this, and get back home with all our friends together.” Legosi bends down and plants a kiss on the bunny’s lips, feeling her breath settle. He pulls back after a couple of seconds to meets Haru’s eyes again. “I love you, Haru.” Haru smiled and giggled. “I love you too, Legosi.”

“Well, ain’t that sweet.” Legosi and Haru are startled by a comment from their friend Louis who had just arrived. They rush over to greet the deer with a hug. “Oh, thank God you’re alright. I imagine you got my message?” Louis looked down at Haru after catching a whiff of Legosi and turning his head. “Would you expect any less of me? The city is swarming with police trying to find us. I had to cut through the BAM to avoid detection. It’s much worse than back home.” Legosi put his hand on Louis’s shoulder. “What do you mean by ‘worse’?” “I mean,” the deer spoke, “that herbivores aren’t the only ones who buy dogs. The gumis over there by dogs and use them for SPORT!” Legosi’s eyes widen. “They hunt down the weaker ones to sate their instincts, but they keep the stronger ones around for dog fighting to settle disputes! I saw a Pomeranian chew its way through a Husky’s stomach like it was nothing! Hell, the dog wasn’t even phased when he made it out through the other one’s back. No emotion whatsoever. I’ve seen the eyes of a broken animal before, and Legosi, I couldn’t begin to imagine what they were subjugated to in order to become those things.” Louis began to shake, the bloody carnage surly to stay in his mind for a long time.

Legosi’s pulse quickened, and he felt his skin growing hot. The though of Jack being forced to fight for carnivore’s petty squabbles, or to do herbivore’s everyday duties, and be treated with such disrespect and disregard made his blood boil. “We need to have a plan. They’re not just gonna let us buy Jack and be on our way. We’re gonna have to break in.” Haru’s ears perked up. “Legosi, shouldn’t we try a quieter approach?” “No.” Legosi stared straight on into the dog pound. “This place is massive, there could be hundreds of dogs that will yelp excitedly at the idea that three strangers are coming to their rescue. So,” Legosi turns to face Haru, and then Louis. “I say we do just that.” All three animals stare at the dog pound, with a sense of determination. Then, they hear a voice coming from behind them. “Count us in.”

Time until next slide: 01:24:17…

“So that’s why we’re here? Instead of trying to find a balance between herbivores and carnivores, we were seen as obedient drones that would do anything they wanted?” Jack was sitting on the cold hard stone floor in his kennel, back leaning on one of the cement walls. He had struck up a conversation with a rottweiler in the cell next to his when the rottweiler tried to comfort him. He then proceeded to tell Jack all he knew about the history of dogs, and how herbivore greed took over their intentions.

“Yep,” the old dog spoke, his fingers dipping into his food bowl. “the bastards’ warped our instincts to follow their bidding to a fault.” The rottweiler brings a handful of kibble to his mouth, crunching the dry bits with his massive teeth. “But enough about our shitty life, tell me more about YOUR life, ‘Mr. World Slider’. Tell me more about this supposed alternate world you claim to be from.”

Jack let out a sign and resumed his own story about his life. “Well, I’ve already explained how dogs were bred to try and find a peace between carnivores and herbivores. We were made to be very intelligent, and were put into society like any other species. Now me, I was made to be super friendly. Someone to cheer you up. I always excelled in school, and everyone seemed to like me.” Jack paused to lap up some stale water from his bowl, his throat had grown dry. “In my third year of high school, I was put in an elite history class with four other dogs my age. In this class, we were taught the truth about the Great War, what society was like before it, and the consequences of the war, which included the invention of dogs.” Jack rubbed his temples, the beer that he had drunk prior to confronting Legosi wearing off, and leaving a small hangover in its wake. “I remember not crying when I heard about all of the atrocities. The fact that I wasn’t sad about it really scared me. Heck, I remember buying a large bag of onions to try and make myself cry, and then tried to eat one. If it wasn’t for my friend Legosi, I would’ve died about nine, maybe 10 months ago.”

“Man, that’s a strange thought.” The rottweiler intervened in Jack’s story. “A wolf and a dog being best friends. I remember hearing stories of wolves slaughtering dogs out of jealousy and frustration. There hasn’t been a single working wolf in 14 years.” The rottweiler took another handful of dry food. “But I’ll tell you something, kid. Your life sounds a hell of a lot better than the millions of dog lives in this world. It sounds like you were living the dream. Not a perfect dream, but anything is better than this…”

Jack hung his head down in shame. “Yeah…” he weakly replied. “It sure does, doesn’t it…” Footsteps began echoing down the hall, prompting the rottweiler to stand up. “Quick kid, get up! They don’t like seeing dogs slumped down on the floor.” The Golden Labrador complied, hands covering his genitals. After a minute of footsteps growing louder, Sam, Jack’s imprisoner, stops in front of the Lab’s glass kennel door. They open the door with a key and sling a leash onto Jack. “Wh-what’s going on? Where are you taking me?” Jack’s questions were met with silence, as he was dragged out swiftly by the zebra officer. He looked back to see the dozens of gloomy faces plastering the kennels before him. They all seemed to show sympathy for Jack. Wherever Jack was being taken to, he had a feeling it wasn’t to his freedom.

Time until next slide: 00:50:03…

“TELL US WHERE YOUR SAVIORS ARE HIDING!!!” Sam commanded for the umpteenth time, growing more impatient with their prisoner. They were in a room with eight large carnivore police officers, armed to the teeth, all watching Jack in the center of the room, hanging with his wrists and ankles spread out by tight ropes. “I… I… I don’t know what you mean…” Jack was choking down sobs of agony and despair. A crack of a whip striking his cut back forced out a yelp from the tortured dog. He had been stuck here for half an hour, his back having more stripes than the zebra interrogating him.

“Listen here, you yellow mongrel!” Sam gets up close in Jack’s tear stained face. “There have been rumors surfacing of an uprising, a revolution if you will, for the ‘freedom’ of all dogs. They think that just because you can think like us that you’re your own people.” They grab Jack by the neck, clutching tightly. “But guess what? You weren’t made from millions of years of evolution, complete with your own rich history. You all were concocted in a lab, coming from some stray wolf cells in test tubes and pumped full of chemicals until we were satisfied with the results almost 100 years ago! You were made for one purpose! The population is already overcrowded, why would we add dozens of new species to the problem just for the hell of it?!”

Jack furrowed his eyebrows and slowly looked straight into Sam’s brown eyes. His composure and expression became one of revelation. “By the time the Great War ended, carnivores outnumbered the herbivore population 3 to 1. The herbivores that survived strove to create a species that would help find peace between the two classes. They made us intelligent, compassionate, and adaptable.” Jack’s speech was interrupted by a swift punch in the stomach, making him lose his breath and spit up some undigested kibble. “You delusional mutt! Herbivores invented dogs for the sole purpose of overshadowing the carnivore population. To replace those that had devoured our ancestors. In another 50 years, herbivores will be safe from the threats of predation, because we will have full control! We are the rightful masters of the land!” Jack struggled to look around at the carnivores, appalled that they would listen to this zebra’s supremacist rantings. He picked up a faint scent in the air emanating from each of the predators’ mouths. Fresh meat. Jack’s eyes widen.

Sam takes notice of this. “Oh, is the mutt curious as to why these savages don’t group up and attack me right now?” The zebra knees the side of Jack’s ribs, causing him to cry out in pain. “It’s because they’re guilty. Whenever a carnivore commits predation, they’re demoted by society. They are pumped full of drugs, and are sterilized! They are treated as slaves, just like you mongrels, and are sent to work for herbivores behind closed doors.” Jack winches as his breathing becomes sharp. “Then, *COUGH* why make dogs in the *WHEEZE* first place?” Jack thinks back to the carnivores he saw on his way to the dog pound who owned dogs themselves. “How are there still carnivores outside? It doesn’t make *COUGH* any sense from any standpoint!”

“Because some carnivores can buy their way out of exile, and keep the economy going!” Sam begins to grow frantic, furious at this morbid game of twenty questions. “And as to why we still make dogs, it’s because they can’t eat us! Not physically, or psychologically! The only good carnivore is one that feeds our wallets!” The zebra pulls out the timer inches from Jack’s nose, which displays 00:47:15. “Now, tell us how to disarm this bomb!” Jack looks at the timer, and says nothing. He knows that this crazy zebra wouldn’t believe him no matter what he said. “Fuck it.” Sam shouted in the room. “Euthanize this defective slave!” Two of the carnivores go to grab Jack, when the echoing of shattered glass comes from the door.

Suddenly, the double burst and vomit out dozens of naked dogs, all charging in and tackling the various carnivore officers. A couple of them cut Jack down from his cuffs, catching the Golden Labrador as he falls. The entire room is in chaos, fur flying all around, deafening barks dominating the room. Jack can hardly process what is going on before feeling a paw grab him. “Come on, Jack! This way!” The dog’s ears perked up when he recognized the sound. He turned to look at who caught him and was elated to see Legosi. Even though it hurt, Jack’s tail wagged like no one’s business. He didn’t pay attention to anything else, so before he knew it, he was in a van, wrapped in a blanket and some cold presses, all his friends asking if he was alright, and Haru had the timer. “Wait, how’d you guys pull this off?” Legosi pointed to the front seat, and the group was greeted to Gouhin, cigarette in his mouth. “Let’s get a move on!” The panda slammed on the accelerator and the group took off. Through the back window, Jack could see hundreds of canines running onto the streets, freeing other dogs as they spread out, with Sam helpless to stop them.

Time until next slide: 00:01:24…

The van ride was bumpy and a blur. Gouhin had taken a narrow route through a subway tunnel and past a hidden entrance. After he stopped the van, the group stepped out of the vehicle and were greeted with a large resistance movement. It was composed of dogs, herbivores, and carnivores. It was explained that they’ve been around for about 14 years, being founded after all wolves were fired and replaced with slave laborers. Their mission was to abolish the enslavement of dogs, to give them equal rights and status, and as a secondary objective, find different ways of helping carnivores deal with their instincts. A couple of medics took Jack and healed him up, and he was given a clean set of clothes. Afterwards, he reunited with Legosi, Haru, and Louis, who were telling the resistance about their world and how they got here. They remained in the hideout for almost an hour, waiting for the timer to reactivate.

“So,” Legosi wraps his arm around Jack’s shoulder and pulls him in close. “I wanted to apologize. About leaving you and the others last year, getting into all sorts of trouble, almost dying more than once, and leaving you in the dark.” Jack looked into Legosi’s remorseful eyes. “Even after I beat Melon, I didn’t think to hang out with you. I was too focused on Haru and my dream for us, that I didn’t see you were fighting your own battles.” The wolf looked down with shamed, but was surprised when he felt Jack scratch his blown off ear. “Legosi, I know what you were doing was important. I had thought that I was put on this, I mean, OUR Earth just to take orders and be a shoulder to cry on.” The dog scans the room, and looks at all the other canines that escaped from the dog pound. “But I underestimated just how much control I actually had. I understand now that I am my own animal. And I’m sorry I dragged you, Haru, and Louis into this whole mess.” This time, Haru and Louis came in and provided a group hug for the two best friends. “We know you didn’t mean to.” Haru spoke first. “But soon, we can move on from this, with a greater appreciation for life.” Louis patted the top of Jack’s head. “Yeah, it’ll be okay. I know some good therapists that I can hook you up with to deal with these feelings. Especially from today…” A tear grew in Jack’s eye before he tightened the hug. “Thank you. Thank you all so much!”

The touching moment is interrupted by a loud whirring sound coming from the timer. The group steps back from Jack as the timer’s buttons begin flickering, and energy spurts from the seaweed prongs. “Well,” Jack said with glee, “Here we go!” The timer spews out the same vortex at the count of zero, displacing the air around it and blowing loose papers everywhere. Haru is the first one to jump through the portal, followed shortly by Louis, who was waving goodbye to two figures in the crowd, a rabbit and an alpaca. Legosi follows next, giving Jack a smile and throwing out the phone he accidentally stole. Finally, Jack takes a final look at the world around him, and makes a statement. “What you are all fighting for is just! One day, I believe you will all be free. I took my freedom for granted, and look where it got me. You all have reminded me of what I have, and I promise never to feel like I have nothing ever again! Goodbye, and good luck!” With that parting message, Jack leaps into the wormhole, which closes up behind him, and leaves this world with a newfound sense of hope.

Just as quickly the group jumped into the wormhole, they landed on the other side in an empty cavern, marked with construction equipment. They make the long walk back into town, the stars in the night sky shining down on them. As they entered the city plaza, Legosi notices Jack staring at the timer. He motions his friends to stop walking as he heads next to Jack. “Jack, what’s the matter?” Jack looks up and shows the others the display on the timer, which has over two days marked on it. “Whenever I slid back home, the display would be covered in dashes. I don’t understand why it’s countdown has reset.” Haru uses her tippy toes to get a better look. “Well, can you turn it off? We need to give it to the authorities.” As the group fumbles around with the timer, a large silhouette approaches them from behind. It reaches out and taps on Legosi’s shoulder. It speaks up. “Legosi, what are you doing out here so late?” The grey wolf turns around, and is met with a petrifying sight. The others soon turn and see the figure in front of them, each having their own reaction. Standing before them was a grey wolf, who had to be in her late 30’s, if not early 40’s. Her body was sporadically spotted with shining emerald scales, and her eyes were the spitting image of Legosi’s. The hybrid before them was Leano, Legosi’s mother. The one that had killed herself when Legosi was 12 years old. “You should’ve called me that you were in town. We could’ve had dinner together, like old times!” While Leano gave off a cheery smile, Legosi stared on with his mouth agape, his eyes beginning to water. Haru held her boyfriend’s hand trying to comfort him. Louis put a hand on the wolf’s shoulder. Jack, meanwhile, completely froze, his hands grew limp and the timer fell onto the pavement with a thud, bouncing a couple times before stopping, appearing no worse for wear. The reality of the situation weighs heavily on the group. Their journey home was FAR from over…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not too happy with this chapter. Personally, I feel like the pacing is all over the place, and the resolution is a bit rushed. I underestimated how much content I wanted to push into this first slide, and tried to make it so that this first adventure was a two parter. However, for all I know, it could just be exhaustion clouding my judgement. I'll let you guys decide.


	5. Police-Gumi, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming to the realization that it will be awhile before they get home, our friends dub themselves "Slidestars" and resume their journey after a few days rest. The next world they land on seems almost identical to their home, until they run into some certain lions that have a MUCH different profession than they remember...

It is about a quarter until noon. We find our group of reluctant sliders sitting at a kitchen table, having just finished a home-cooked meal prepared by Leano. After having escaped a world where dogs were enslaved and treated like property, Jack and his friends landed on a world where Legosi’s mother hadn’t killed herself. Seeing that the timer wouldn’t activate for a couple of days, the group needed a place to crash. Leano had happily accepted them into Legosi’s childhood home, where she lived along side this world’s version of Gosha. Over the course of their stay, the group learned that in this world, on what was Leano’s last night in their world, this Legosi turned around to face his mother when she hugged him in bed, thinking he was asleep. The look in the young wolf’s eyes made this Leano realize she had to keep living on, and that her self-image as a freak wasn’t true. As the years went on, Leano’s scales stabilized and her appearance became more balanced, growing her self-confidence.

“Thank you so much for this wonderful lunch, Leano!” Louis spoke up as he got up from the table, wiping his lips with a napkin. “Do you need any help cleaning up?”

The wolf-Komodo hybrid picked up Jack’s empty plate as she turned to look at the red deer. “If you guys have the time, I’d greatly appreciate it! Just wipe your crumbs off the table, and carry them to the trash.” Leano smiled at her house guests as Haru was the first one to brush her crumbs into her cupped hand, and then close her fist until she reached the garbage. Soon, the other three animals followed, while Leano put the dishes away in the sink. Legosi walked from the trash can and went to his ‘mother’.

“Hey, Leano.” The strong wolf scratched the back of his head as he looked at the woman in front of him. Even after two days of living with her, it was a surreal feeling to see a corporeal form of his deceased mother. Legosi had had a spiritual encounter with Leano while he was in the hospital, but the last time he had seen her alive was when he was about 12.

“Yes, Legosi?” Leano spoke up, breaking the wolf out of his train of thought. “What did you want to say?” Legosi took a deep breath and talked. “I wanted to thank you for taking us into your abode. I know it must seem like a crazy story, seeing a different version of your son and his friends show up out of nowhere. I’m sorry if I’ve been… shocking to see. To learn about how my life turned out without you in it.”

Leano waved her hand in a scoffing manner. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m sorry that, at least your world’s version of me, lost her battle. If she had known you were awake that night, I’m sure things would’ve been different.” She stepped closer to Legosi. “And honestly, you’re not too different from my Legosi. I let him go to Cherryton Academy with Jack, and he would tell me about how much fun he would have at school every summer when he came home. My son was so full of life and wonder. Even when that classmate of yours was murdered, Legosi kept everyone’s spirits high.” Leano put a hand on the tall wolf’s shoulder. “And from what you’ve told me, you and he both went through the same journey after that. You both have grown into such wonderful young men, and I couldn’t be prouder!” She pulled in our Legosi into a big, warm hug. She spoke more softly into his good ear. “I know I explained this before, but I thought you just needed a reminder.”

A tear ran down Legosi’s cheek as he reciprocated his ‘mother’s’ hug, holding her tightly. “I appreciate it, mom. Thank you again…”

Their moment was cut short when Jack cleared his throat. “The timer is about to go off. Is everyone ready?” Both Louis and Haru nod, Legosi letting go and taking one last look at Leano, her eyes wide with love and care. “Yeah,” the strong wolf said, “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

With a grin towards his friend, Jack held the timer out in front of him as the clock stuck zero, and the machine roared and sparked with life. The wormhole opened up before the group, sending out the same force of air against nearby furniture. Jack stood to the side to let his friends go first, as the portal would close as soon as the timer went through. Louis marched up and jumped in first, disappearing in a flash of milky blue light. Haru followed suit, using her smaller frame to launch into a front flip into the vortex. Legosi turned around and gave his ‘mother’ a final “I love you” before running into the portal. Finally, Jack took a deep breath, held the timer close to his chest, and leaped into the vortex in front of him, unsure of where he and his friends would end up next.

\----------

In what seemed like no time at all, the group falls down on the floor of Gosha’s kitchen. Haru flew the farthest and landed on the sofa in the adjoining living room. Legosi dove into a roll and stopped himself from face-planting into the cabinets under the counter. Jack crashed into the fridge, falling onto his back soon after. Louis flung upside down from the wormhole, colliding with the counter not too far from Legosi.

“AUGH! Dammit!” Louis cried out in pain from the blunt force applied to his lower back, which was crammed against the floor and the cabinet. “How’d I end up upside down?” The deer grunted before popping himself from the contorted position and tried to stand up. He stumbled a bit on his prosthetic leg, looking down. “Oh great.” Louis noticed a big dent in the metal leg, offsetting the balance and positioning. He looked back to see some metal scrapings on the counter edge.

“Hey Louis, you okay?” Legosi walked to Louis’s side to check in on him. “Yeah, I’m fine. But I dented my leg and misaligned it.” Louis shows the wolf the sizable dent in the mechanism. “What are these kitchen counters made of?” Legosi answered his friend’s question with a short “If my grandpa still owns this house, then it’s made to withstand corrosive venom, and therefore very strong.”

Haru, during all of this, holds up a framed picture of Gosha. “It looks like it. But where is he?” Legosi looked over Louis’s shoulder to meet his girlfriend’s gaze. “Probably at his construction job. Good for us, I didn’t want to have to explain to him who we are, or how we exist.” Haru walked into the kitchen to join up with the rest of the group. They turn to face Jack.

“So Jack, what’s the timer say?” Legosi spoke up at his friend, who was staring down at the timer display. The Labrador looked up at the grey wolf. “A little less than thirteen hours. We should probably so get something to keep us awake until then. I don’t wanna doze off before the next portal opens.” Jack looked at the time on a wall-mounted clock, which read seven minutes until noon. Doing the math, the dog concluded the next vortex wouldn’t open until after midnight.

“Alright,” Legosi brushed dust off of his shirt that he got from the last world, and headed for the front door. His friends followed close behind him as they left the empty house and stepped into broad daylight. “There should be a gas station not too far from here. We can pick up some energy drinks there.” Legosi faces Louis, who is limping. “Is there someplace where we can fix your leg, Louis?” “A maintenance shop will have to do.” Louis replied. “We have no idea if this world’s Louis has the same leg, so we can’t rely on a replacement.” After shutting the front door, the Slidestars set out onto the main street.

Time until next slide: 12:35:03…

The sound of an electric beep echoes through the gas station as Legosi opens the front door, holding it open for his friends. The station wasn’t terribly full, only having a handful of customers. Legosi looked around to see where everything was, craning his neck for the most optimal view. He could see nothing out of the ordinary from his world’s gas station. They had shelves filled with cheap snacks in the center of the building. In the back, he could see a slushy machine, right next to a whole wall dedicated to cooling down drinks for kids and grown-ups alike. On another set of shelves were cheap knick knacks and 3rd-party phone chargers. There was even a rack at the check-out counter that held tabloid articles. It was a fairly standard gas station.

“Do you guys care about the flavor?” Jack spoke from across the store. He was looking through the selection of energy drinks in stock, taking a purple can for himself. Haru was leaning her back on the counter, scrolling through the latest gossip mag. “I’ll take a strawberry flavored drink, if they have any.” Louis stood near the bathrooms, rubbing his stump and the tilted metal that was beginning to dig into it. “Something citrus themed.” Legosi had walked over to the food section and caught his eyes on egg salad sandwiches. “Um, doesn’t matter, Jack.”

Hearing all of their orders, Jack pulled out the appropriate flavored drinks from the fridge, and proceeded to the check-out counter. He placed his items on the desk and paid the cashier. Jack took hold of the full plastic bag in his hand and waited at the front door for his friends. Haru left behind the gossip mag and went into the restroom. Louis limped to the front door, gritting his teeth as the prosthetic dug in further. Legosi meanwhile was buying an eight-pack of the egg salad sandwiches, his bushy tail wagging. The cashier, a pig, scanned the items and took his payment. Legosi left the counter with the sandwiches in hand.

Outside of the gas station, a police car pulls up into the parking lot. A lion officer with round eyebrows, and a short mane steps out of the driver side. He looks over to his partner, another lion with amber locks and a peach muzzle. “You want a bear claw, right?”, the younger officer asked his partner. The older lion gave a thumbs up as he tuned into the police radio. The younger lion closes the car door and steps into the gas station. He has to squeeze by a staring Louis, excusing himself as he makes his way to the donut rack.

Legosi catches sight of the lion officer, and walks over to Louis. “Is that who I think it is, Louis?” Louis’s gaze is transfixed on the lion. “There’s no doubt about it, that’s Dope!” The red deer looks out the window and at the police car. “And I think that’s Hino in the car!”

“Didn’t they kidnap you from your company during Legosi’s fight?” Jack spoke up from between the two friends. Louis raises his hand in front of the Labrador. “They SAVED me from my ‘security’ team, Jack.” Louis had a hard time believing the sight before him. Dope was donned in a proud officer’s uniform, his aura radiating with pride. He continued to watch Dope as he purchased nine different donuts, them all being packaged in a box by the pig cashier.

Suddenly, Hino comes barging in the gas station, almost toppling the deer over as he was still blocking the entrance. “DOPE! Commissioner Ibuki just called us in! He needs all hands on deck for this case!” Dope nods and runs out with his partner, donut box pressed against his chest. They got in their police car and stormed off onto the main road.

, Louis thought to himself. Hearing that name brought back memories from over a year ago. How out of all of the lions of the Shishigumi, Louis seemed to bond with Ibuki the closest. He remembered the powerful lion getting shot as he was charging at Louis that New Year’s Eve. He never told anyone about Ibuki, not even Legosi. He was like a true dad to the red deer, and Louis couldn’t help but tear up every time he thought about the lion.

Louis pulled out his phone and looked at a map of the town, looking for the police department. Legosi took notice of this. “What are you doing, Louis?” Louis didn’t answer, instead finding what he was looking for, and walks out the door. He looks back and calls for the rest of the group. “C’mon guys, I need to look into something.” Haru, Jack, and Legosi follow the red deer out of the gas station.

Time until next slide: 10:27:48…

“Where the hell is Commissioner Ibuki?” spoke an agitated Free. He and his fellow precinct officers were sitting in the briefing room, waiting for their chief to tell them what was so urgent. “It’s been almost an hour, and he still hasn’t shown up! I had to drop what I was doing and drag my ass all the way across town, and the lion who requested the meeting ain’t ever here!” Free let out an impatient *humpf*, taking a bite out of his now stale lemon-filled donut.

“Calm down, Free.” Dope put a hand on the inspector’s shoulder. “The commissioner sounded serious on the radio. He probably has to organize what he has to say.” Dope sat back down in chair, using a napkin to wipe some spare crumbs out the corner of his mouth.

Not even a minute later, the commissioner steps into the briefing room, the other officers standing in attention. “At ease.” Ibuki motions his hand to signal to the others it’s okay to sit down now. “Now, Jinma has been tracking a potential drug trade for several months now, and recently he’s made a big discovery.” Ibuki pulls out a clicker, pressing it. This causes the lights to go out and the projector to turn on. The image super imposed on the back wall depicts a map of the city harbor, with lines drawn representing trafficking routes. “I had Sabu sneak down to the harbor to confirm Jinma’s information. He took just enough photos to get us a warrant!” Ibuki pulled out the next slide, which showed live fish being imported. “Not only has this group been distributing Silvervine, but they’ve been selling live fish to carnivores on the side.”

All of the lion officers lean in their seats, invested. “So, what are we gonna do?” Officer Agata spoke up with his big hand raised. Ibuki then pulled up a new plan. “They restock their inventory every week. This evening, we’re gonna crash the party and finally arrest these criminals!” All the lions in the briefing room roared with might and beat their chests. They had been looking forward to this day for months! The police had been so close to convicting these traffickers, but were always short of the necessary evidence. Now, they had this in the bag!

Outside the briefing room, in the receptionist area, Louis was painfully making his way to the front desk. “Louis!” Haru followed close behind him. “Your prosthetic is digging deeper into your leg! You’re bleeding like crazy!” Louis ignored the rabbit and continued his trek. Jack and Legosi weren’t too far behind them, talking with each other about the timer. “So…” Legosi started, before taking a bite out of his egg sandwich, “do you think there’s a way to track where we go?” The Labrador shook his head. “There wasn’t really any need to before. It would send you back home after a certain time, and then shutdown until you next wanted to use it.”

While this was going on, Louis made it to the front desk, putting most of his weight on it to try and ease the pain on his stump. “Grr… I’d like to see… Commissioner Ibuki…” The gazelle at the front desk looked at the straining deer. “Sir, this is the police department, not a doctor’s office. You can’t just request to see a specific officer, especially not one from one of the most efficient squads in the city. He’s having a meeting with his squad about very important matters in the briefing room over there.” The gazelle absent-mindedly pointed to a set of double doors that had “BRIEFING ROOM” engraved in rich katakana on a panel above.

“Thank you… uhhhg!” Louis limps his way to the briefing room, blood now slowly pouring out of his stump. The gazelle took notice and began calling security. “Ibuki…” Louis’s vision started to blur, his leg screaming at him to rest, but the deer was dead focused on seeing a physical version of his friend/ second father. Finally, he makes it, hands shaking from blood loss. “Ibukiiiii!” The red deer pounds on the locked doors, moaning the lion’s name. Then, at that moment, Louis’s prosthetic leg buckled even further, causing him to fall on the hard floor. Haru rushes to his side. “LOUIS!”

This grabs the attention of Jack and Legosi, who run to catch up with their friends. They kneel down beside the collapsed deer, Legosi holding his head up. “Louis, speak to us, man!” A couple of security guards show up with a stretcher, and take the deer out of the building.

Time until next slide: 07:04:35…

Louis awoke to a groggy feeling and a dull ache in his leg. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by Legosi, Haru, and Jack, and they were in a doctor’s office. Judging by the logos he could see, Louis gathered that they were still at the police station.

“Louis, are you feeling okay?” Haru asked the red deer with a look of concern. “Yep. I’m fine.” Louis shifted his weight until he was sitting up. He looked down to see that his stump was wrapped in gauze. “Where’s my leg?”

Legosi made his way next to Louis. “We told the police doctor about getting your leg repaired, and he sent some people to the repair shop. They should have it ready before we have to slide.” He wrapped his arm around Louis’s shoulder. “Louis, why are we here? If it was to see the Shishigumi as police officers, couldn’t it have waited until after we stopped by a mechanic? We’re stuck here for another seven hours, so I don’t understand why-”

The wolf’s sentence was interrupted by a knock at the door. Before anyone could answer, the guard station at the door let the animal in. “I was told you were looking for me, young man?” It was Commissioner Ibuki, wearing a standard Japanese police uniform. He stood in front of the hospital bed, back straight and at attention. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Louis stared at the lion’s distinct face and mane. Memories from over a year ago began to creep into the deer’s mind. “Um, no. I just… wanted to see you, Commissioner…” Louis could feel his eyes watering, and he could tell by the expression of Jack in the corner of his eye that they were visible. “I’ve… always admired your work, and what you’ve done for the community.” A smile grew on Louis’s face.

“Well,” Ibuki spoke up, “I appreciate your gratefulness. My men and I work around the clock to keep the streets safe. But you all came at a pretty bad time.” Louis raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” Ibuki raised a hand and shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s confidential police business, young man. We’ve finally made a break in a case, and are about to strike. I can’t really say anymore.” Ibuki walked back to the door, and took a final look at the Slidestars. “You all have a safe evening.” With that, the lion closes the door, leaving the group to talk amongst themselves.

Legosi was the first one to break the strange silence that followed. “I don’t think I remember that lion, Louis.” The wolf turned his head from the door and onto the deer. “Was he a new member of the Shishigumi before we left?” Louis let his head hang down. “No, he died before you could meet him.” The deer gripped tight on the thin medical blanket covering his torso. Jack took note of his body language. “Were the two of you… close?” The deer didn’t say anything, instead gritting his teeth as he felt his tears begin to break through.

Legosi put a hand on Jack’s shoulder, grabbing the Labrador’s attention. He looked at the wolf who slowly shook his head, deterring him from asking further. Legosi didn’t know anything about Ibuki or what he meant to Louis, but he understood that whatever it was, it was a private matter. “It’s okay, Louis. We don’t have to talk about this now.” The red deer swallowed a heavy sadness that swelled in his throat, and looked up at the grey wolf. “Thank you, Legosi.”

The group of friends were alerted to hard knocks on the doctor room door. “Yes?” Haru yelled out into the open room. The door then opened, and two lion officers stepped into the room. It was Miguel and Jinma, and they were stopping by to give Louis his repaired leg. “Here you go, young man.” Jinma spoke up as he propped up Louis’s stump. “The repairs certainly weren’t cheap! This is a really impressive prosthetic!” Miguel held the metal leg steady, and on Jinma’s signal, he slid it onto the deer’s stump, and secured it in place. “Alright, sir. How does it feel?” Miguel asked while stepping away from the bed to give Louis some room.

Shifting his weight, Louis swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and slid his body off. He felt his stump press firmly into the prosthetic as he slowly applied more and more weight onto his feet. “It fits like a glove! Thank you, Miguel and Jinma!”

The two lion officers bow their heads to the group, and then leave the room to join up with the other officers, who were still discussing their plan to arrest the traffickers. Haru scratches her head and brings up a point. “I’m surprised they didn’t comment on your appearance, Louis.” The deer looks down at the rabbit. “What do you mean, Haru?”

“Well, you said that those police officers at that dog pound thought you were some look-alike of that world’s Louis. Other than the Shishigumi being police, we haven’t really seen any other differences of this world.” Haru pulled out her phone and looked for any articles relating to the Horn’s Conglomerate or Oguma. “Oh wow…” Louis got down on Haru’s level. “What? What is it?”

Haru turned her phone around so that the screen was facing Louis. He stared at the article display, which had a picture depicting his father standing proudly next to a deer that Louis didn’t recognize. He looked a lot stronger than Louis. The red deer just shrugged his shoulders. “Good news for us, I guess. That means people won’t be wondering why some rich boy is out and about.” Louis lifted himself up with the bed.

“So,” Jack looked around the room, not sure what to do with himself. “What do we do now? We still have seven hours until the next slide.” The Labrador held the timer in his hands, stroking the side of the casing with his thumb. Louis began walking out of the patient room, but not before facing his friends and making a statement. “I don’t know about you all, but it sounds like these lions are about to face off against some dangerous people. They may not be the same lions as the ones back home, but I still feel a connection with them. I say we help them with this trafficking bust before we have to leave.”

Legosi walked next to the deer and put a hand on his shoulder. “I understand, Louis. These guys seem like the best the police force has to offer on this world. We should help them anyway we can.” Louis looks over Legosi’s shoulder to see Haru and Jack nod in agreement. “I don’t fully understand the extent of your relationship with the Shishigumi, but I can recognize when one needs to help their family.” Jack goes next to the wolf and deer, thinking about the 701 boys. “Count me in, too.” Haru declared. “We only have each other until we get home. Whatever we do, we do together.” Louis began to tear up again as he was surrounded by his friends. “Alright,” Louis grinned. “Let’s get to work…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to finish off the Summer 2020 semester before I could resume work on Slidestars. Heck, this was all meant to be one super long chapter, but I knew that people would soon forget about this fanfic if I stayed silent any longer. Don't know when the next chapter will be done, I just hope it's sooner rather than later.


	6. Police-Gumi, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Shishisentai are on their way to bust a heinous group of drug and fish traffickers at the harbor, with Louis and friends joining them in secret to help. A good judgement call on the deer's behalf, as the lions soon find out they've bitten more off than they can chew!

Time until next slide: 03:51:07…

“I can’t wait until we bust these guys!” Agata exclaimed eagerly to his partner, Dolph, as they were travelling down the main road to the harbor. “We’ve been tracking these guys for months with no progress, but then Jinma comes in with his investigation skills, and BAM!” The black lion brings his giant hands together to form a thunderous clap, causing Dolph to twitch at the loud noise. “We can finally put this all behind us!”

The plan had been set up. All nine officers were in three separate cars in groups of three. They were gonna head to the several entrances to the harbor to set up blockades, and then walk the rest of the way to the dealing. Agata, Dolph, and Sabu were driving to the south entrance, Dope, Hino, and Free to the north, and Miguel, Jinma, and Ibuki to the west. The prime time to attack would be around 9:15, which was when Jinma reported the most activity to take place. If the police could bust the traffickers with the most amount of evidence out in the open, then there would be no doubt that they would be brought to justice.

Dolph glanced down from the road and onto the police dashboard, where the clock read that it just struck 9. He calculated that they would be there in about 10 minutes, with 5 minutes to get to the main location on foot. Dolph locked his eyes back on the road, his mind racing with memories of sleepless nights trying to bust this case with his fellow officers. “Agata,” the lion spoke up, grabbing the attention of his partner. “We have no idea how well equipped these guys are to retaliate. It could get very dangerous. You’re still the newest member of the ShiShisentai, even after all these years. I want you to stay close to Sabu and I, and don’t hesitate to use lethal force if necessary.”

“Don’t worry, Dolph.” Agata reassured his partner. “To be honest, I’m quite nervous about this bust. We’ve been through so much to get here, and if we succeed, families can start to rebuild, and countless sea lives will be sparred.” The black lion thought back to how Silvervine destroyed his home. His mother got addicted to the stuff, and she would lash out at his father, sometimes violently. His dad couldn’t take it, and just didn’t come home from work one day, leaving a 15 year old Agata stuck with a drugged-out lioness. As soon as he graduated high school, Agata left for the police academy, abandoning his abusive mother. “You’ve always been there to help me through the hard times in the academy, Dolph. You were the officer that recommended me for membership of the ShiShisentai.” He put a hand on Dolph’s shoulder. “I know we can do this together.” In the lights passing by in the night, Agata could see the elder lion smirk. Dolph took his turn to respond, “You’re damn right, kid! The ShiShisentai is the best squadron in the Denko Police Department! Together, we are unstoppable!” Dolph rolled down his window and pumped his fist in the air, amping himself up for the heist. Agata followed suit out of the passenger window, while Sabu sat in the back, remaining silent and stoic. They were almost there.

Time until next slide: 03:43:32…

We cut to a pier a kilometer or so from the harbor. There is a motor boat parked on the edge of the water, with a bag of bats. The boat is occupied by Jack, Haru, and Legosi, who are talking to each other and finishing their energy drinks Jack bought this afternoon.

“Do you have any idea who invented the timer, Jack?” Haru asked the Golden Labrador before taking another sip of her drink. Jack shook his head as he held said timer in his hand. “No. Again, I just found it at my college library.” Jack stifled a small burp caused by his own fizzy drink. “When I first started sliding on my own, I would ask other people if they knew anything. No one seemed to understand what I was talking about, even when they saw a portal open up in front of them before I left.”

“Well, we can’t be the only travelers of the multiverse.” Legosi chimed into the conversation, leaning in closer to his friends. “If the multiverse really is infinite, then shouldn’t you have encountered a world that had this kind of technology, or worlds that had been visited by other sliders?”

As this was going on, Louis was leaving a nearby bathroom, still drying his hands with a paper towel as he walked towards the boat. He had already finished his energy drink, and felt a little sick by it. Turns out it was the same brand that Louis had stockpiled back when he pretended to eat meat in front of the Shishigumi. Drinking it again brought back the memories of constantly throwing up meat, and wasting away as he tried to survive on energy drinks alone in secret. Looking back on it now, Louis wasn’t sure how he had managed to live through those first few months as the new boss of the lions. (It was because of Ibuki), Louis thought to himself. (Ibuki managed to see right past my ruse, and helped me regain my strength with food I could digest.) The boat his friends were on came into view of the red deer.

Jack took noticed and waved at Louis approaching. “Hey, Louis! Are we ready to go?” Legosi and Haru moved into their seats to allow Louis some room. Jack moved to the back to work the motor. The deer climbed up into the front and sat down, his posture straight and commanding. Louis turned his head around to look at his friends, and said “Yes. We all know the plan?”

“We’re gonna ambush the traffickers via the sea, and help out the police where we can.” Legosi recited the plan that Louis had written up after they left the station. “It’s a small group, from what you were able to gather. About 20, is that right?” Louis’s mouth grew into a confident grin. “Correct. Remember, we don’t have to kill any of them. In fact, it would be preferable if we left these crooks alive for the police to take into custody.” The deer pointed at Jack. “Now, punch it, Jack.” The Labrador gave a nod before pulling on the crank multiple times, waking up the motor and bringing it to life. Everyone sat down as the boat propelled away from the pier, and make its way to the harbor.

Time until next slide: 03:37:09…

The lights in the main city began to light up as the violet night sky fully engulfed the fleeting ambers of the sun. It would be late night employees and partyers that would be turning on these lights. The glow of Denko city was barely visible over the countless shipping crates and pick-up cranes that surrounded the harbor, almost as piled high as the city buildings themselves. The only illumination that reached the closed off harbor was provided by dim portable industrial lamps, dotted out on key venues of the concrete seashore.

Throughout the harbor, a sparse number of animals patrolled the central area, where most of the activity was taking place. Here, one can see at least six aquariums packed full of scared, live fish civilians, individually being taken out by a porcupine, and thrown to a toucan in a freezer. The toucan caught each fish, and proceeded to put them in organized shelves based off of species. She paused a moment to admire a velvet-scaled salmon. “Such a beautiful shade of pink. Very healthy and ripe.” The bird licked her beak as she stared into the suffocating fish’s eyes.

“Quit drooling in there, Teresa!” The porcupine next to the fish tanks called out to his partner in crime. “We don’t need your spit spoiling the merchandise! We still got a lot of fish to store here!” The toucan snapped out of her trance, and looked back outside the giant freezer to her pointy compatriot. “Don’t get your quills all bent, Hiroki!” Teresa let the salmon fall into the pull-out shelve to join its dead or dying brethren. “The night just started, we’ve got plenty of time to admire all the fish we caught!”

“I don’t know about you,” Hiroki retorted, “but it’s hard AND annoying to handle these slippery fish and try to throw them in a way that won’t resort to them landing on the dirty concrete and going to waste!” The porcupine reached into the fish tank to pullout another victim. “You taking your sweet ass time in there isn’t helping me at all!” He managed to grab a carp and toss it into Teresa’s open wings. “I wish I was stuck with Silvervine duty! It certainly smells a lot better than these things!” Hiroki heard Teresa chuckle after his last statement. “Heh, you would know a lot about that, wouldn’t you, Hiroki?”

Before the porcupine could fire back with an insult, a third figure approached the two. Their shoes echoed against the ground as they strutted over to the fish tanks. “The hell are you two complaining about now?” The figure leaned into the light to reveal a tall zebra, hands on their hips, and stern look on their face. Hiroki and Teresa stumbled before going back to their work. “Nothing, Sam!” Hiroki replied first, with Teresa following with “Yeah, nothing at all!”

Sam stood straight back up and rubbed down the front of their suit, patting out any wrinkles. “Good. We don’t get paid to mingle and talk shit. We get paid to smuggle in Silvervine and fish for our Back-Alley famous ‘Silvervine Sushi’! The carnivores eat that stuff up like it’s their last day on Earth!” The zebra walks up closer to Hiroki and the fish tank beside him, and looks down into the open top. “Ah, it looks like a mighty fine haul! Salmon, Tuna, it makes me envy the beasts that can stomach this stuff.” Sam looks up to spot a dribble of drool on Teresa’s beak. “Of course, that doesn’t stop you from trying, toucan.”

Teresa wipes the spit off of her long beak with her feathery wings, blushing slightly while avoiding eye contact. Sam just scoffs and turns around, walking back towards their post. “Don’t try to eat any, Teresa! Last thing we need is bird vomit contaminating our inventory!” The zebra yells back at the duo, recalling previous incidents from when they and the others first started this gig a few months ago.

Eighty or so meters west of the giant freezer, Miguel was holding a long-distance microphone hidden behind a shipping crate. Ibuki was recording the whole interaction next to his partner. During all of this, Jinma was working on a machine connected to the other pieces of equipment, compiling and syncing the video with the audio.

“Jinma, are you getting all of this?” Ibuki looked back at the other lion for a moment, hoping that nothing was going wrong with the equipment. Jinma took off his headphones and turned to face his superior. “Every last syllable and frame! Gotta hand it to the techies down at the station, they know how to make surveillance gear!” Jinma pulled out his walkie talkie to communicate with the other groups. “This is Jinma of Group Alpha calling. Have you all captured enough evidence?”

Group Bravo, consisting of Dope, Hino, and Free responded first. “This is Free of Group Bravo. Man oh man, these guys are in trouble! We can have these shitbags locked up for at least 40 years!” After Free’s crude statement, the radio cut again to pick up Group Charlie’s signal, which has handled by the quiet Sabu. “Sabu here. Yes.” The covered lion spoke shortly and briefly.

“Alright, Ibuki.” Jinma put his radio back in his pocket. “What’s our next call?” He crawls closer to Ibuki and Miguel until he squeezes right in between them. “Now, we act.” Ibuki states stoically as he pulls out his radio. He presses down on the talk button and speaks clearly. “Save what you all have and be prepared to pounce. We need to strike here and now.” The commissioner waits with bated breath for confirmation from the other two groups.

“Ready.” Sabu responds first, his statement shorter than the radio beeps. Free next replies with “Ready, Commissioner!” With a grin growing on his face, Ibuki presses the talk button on his radio. “ENGAGE NOW, SHISHISENTAI!”

“FREEZE, DENKO CITY POLICE!!!” Ibuki calls out to the traffickers with a megaphone while vaulting next to the crate his group was hiding behind. Miguel and Jinma follow their leader with guns at the ready, sprinting across the 80 meter gap between them and their targets. Sam, Teresa, and Hiroki jolt their heads in the direction of the lion’s voice and raise their hands above their heads. They stare as the three towering felines approach the center of the harbor, stopping about 15 meters from the criminals. Ibuki takes a few steps forward and talks into the megaphone again. “YOU THREE ARE UNDER ARREST FOR THE TRAFFICKING OF SILVERVINE, AS WELL AS THE TRAFFICKING OF LIVE SEA ANIMALS TO THE BACK ALLEY MARKET!!!” Sam’s ears pickup the thud of shoes on concrete to their right, and they turn to see Dope, Hino, and Free pointing their guns at the trio. They had a feeling that they would find more lions to their left, so Sam didn’t bother to look. “WE HAVE YOU OUTNUMBERED THREE TO ONE, PUNKS! IT’S OVER!”

Sam tilts their head down, almost as if in defeat, but then starts to chuckle. Then that chuckle grows into a modest laugh, and then swells and crescendos into outright maniacal laughter. Hiroki joins in with his own quaint snicker, which is soon overshadowed by Teresa’s deafening squawks. Ibuki’s eyebrows furrow in confusion as well as anger. He can see Sabu in the distance looking back at him, silently asking what was going on. Agata’s gun begins to shake in his hands, the laughter upsetting his unprepared resolve. Dolph lays a hand on the youngest officer’s shoulder, showing signs of uncertainty as well. Free, Dope, and Hino maintain their composure, but Ibuki can see the looks of worry in their eyes, even from such a far distance.

After what feels like forever, Sam cuts off their and their partners’ laughter to talk directly to the commissioner. “It looks like you lions aren’t good at math, because the way I see it,” the zebra snaps their fingers, the soundwaves echoing throughout the concrete beach, summoning other animals from behind various box crates and metal cranes, all armed with assault rifles. The lion officers rapidly shake their heads around to try and spot every crook. “WE outnumber YOU over 2 to 1!” The surrounding traffickers take aim at the overwhelmed lions, taking advantage of their confusion. Sam is about to call fire when they hear something clink behind them. They turn around just in time for the object to arrive at their feet. The zebra, porcupine, and toucan all look down to see that the object in question is a highly pressurized smoke bomb, and it’s about to blow!

Hiroki blurts out a shocked “What the-” before he and his comrades are cut off by the detonation, which billows out smoke at an alarming rate. The trio are instantly blinded by the thick, grey plume, coughing profusely. Beyond the sounds of their coughing, Sam picks up the sounds of more smoke grenades hitting the ground, followed by a puff and distant coughing.

“Sir, what the hell is going on?!” Miguel asks his superior officer as he witnesses the clouds grow around him and his team. Ibuki squints his eyes as he sees four figures leaping onto the harbor from the water. “I have no idea! It can’t be back-up, we were unprepared for an ambush!” He turns to Miguel and Jinma to issue a new order. “Whoever they are, they just bought us an opportunity to retaliate! All Shishisentai, you are free to engage!” Commissioner Ibuki lets out a mighty roar that echoes through the smoky night sky, calling for his fellow officers to attack. After hearing the other eight lions roar back, Ibuki leads the charge into the dense fog.

“Alright, you fish-slaughtering bastards!” Free’s voice bellows. “It’s time to put an end to this!” The police officer lets his claws emerge as two towering rhinos come charging at him. Free lunges to his left and grabs onto a lamp post. He uses the momentum to swing himself behind one of the rhinos and cling onto the thick hide of his back. Free’s claws barely break the rhino’s skin, but he hangs onto the beast’s shirt while the trafficker slows down to try and pry the lion off of him. The officer wastes no time in whipping out his taser and to strike the hulking rhino’s neck, sending paralyzing volts down his spine. Free leaps off of the rhino’s back as he comes crashing onto the concrete ground, thoroughly incapacitated. “Heh, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Free chuckles to himself as he removes his handcuffs from his belt to fully capture the crook. In the excitement however, the lion forgot about the second rhino that was currently charging right behind him, with enough force that could shatter Free’s spinal column. Right as the rhino is about to collide with the officer, one of the mysterious figures tackles the giant animal, sinking his fangs in a non-vital area. Free turns around at the sound of the collision, and at this time, the smoke had diluted down so that it was much easier to tell who was who. “Hang on, you’re one of those kids from this afternoon!” The lion points a clawed finger at the figure, who is revealed to be Legosi.

Legosi doesn’t respond at first, his mouth currently filled with dry denim and the rough hide of the rhino. He lets go after he begins to fill blood spilling from the criminal, and turns his attention to the shocked lion. “Surprised to see us again, officer?” Legosi’s lips curl up to form a compatriot grin. “You can thank Louis for our intervention! In the meantime, allow us to help you all stop these heinous villains!” The grey wolf leaps from the pain-stricken rhino and he charges towards a couple of hippos that are surrounding Hino. Free turns to look out onto the open harbor to spot all the fighting that was going on.

From where he was standing, Free could see a white bunny leaping against the chests of bears that were antagonizing Sabu, Agata, and Dolph. Haru used the raw strength of her legs and the speed of her small figure to stun the hulking predators long enough for the lions to intervene and help. “You think I can’t take you beasts on because I’m a rabbit?!” Haru felt her blood rushing through her veins as she bounced from one bear to the next like a pinball machine. “When will you carnivores learn that looks can be deceiving?”

Agata swings at the knee of a polar bear with his baton, toppling the criminal over. He looks up to see Haru going from one bear to the next in a white blur. After cuffing his crook, he stands back to back with Dolph. “Man, I’m sure glad she’s on our side!” The dwarf rabbit lands in front of the duo, spooking them. She giggles at their frazzled expression and responds with “I’m flattered, officers! Now, how about you cuff them?”

In the center of the harbor, Jack had spotted Sam the zebra next to the toucan and porcupine. “…You…” Memories from a few days ago flash in Jack’s mind, where he was beaten and tortured by this very same zebra on the Dog Slave world. (Talk about small worlds.) Jack thinks to himself before pointing his bat at Sam and the others. “You may not be the EXACT same animal that hurt me, but you’re close enough!” The Labrador charges at the zebra screaming a battle cry, trauma setting in as the world around him grew blurred and muffled. The dog swung his bat as soon as he was within range, knocking the zebra in the stomach and sending them on their knees dazed. Hiroki and Teresa try to intervene, but freeze in fear once they see Legosi sprinting in their direction, leaving the hippos to Free and company. The duo run off to the west as the grey wolf reaches his best friend. “JACK, TAKE IT EASY!” Legosi grabs hold of Jack’s arms, holding them back from delivering a brutal barrage to Sam’s ribcage. After several seconds of struggling, Jack comes to his senses and drops the bat, before turning towards his friend and pulling him in for a hug. “T-thank you, Legosi.” The Labrador’s breathing was stuttery and shaken. “I just saw them and… felt the pain again…” Sam could do nothing except stay below the hugging canines, rubbing their sides and trying to breath normally again.

“Yo, this is fucked up!” Hiroki talks with Teresa while they sprint towards the nearest exit gate, trying to escape like cowards. “I didn’t sign up to get assaulted by a puppy!” The porcupine turns back to see if he and the toucan are being followed. He realizes that Teresa isn’t running beside him. “Teresa?!” Hiroki stops in his tracks and looks around him for his partner. This leaves him completely vulnerable to get tackled by one of the police lions. After landing on the concrete ground, the porcupine tries to turn his head up to see his captor. A giant hand holds his head in place, however. A shiver runs down Hiroki’s spine as he hears the growling voice of Ibuki over him. “All of you are going away for a loooong tiiiiiime…”

“I managed to catch the toucan, Ibuki.” Louis the red deer walks towards his alternate friend with his hands firmly grasped around Teresa’s wrists. “With the way you had been talking about the culprits and the scope of their crimes, I had a hunch that there were more players in the game. It looks like I was right!” Louis tosses the cuffed toucan over to Miguel while he walks on over next to Ibuki. The brave lion gets off of the secured Hiroki and looks into the deer’s eyes. “Kid, I have no idea who you or your friends are.” The commissioner looks around the harbor to see the other three animals walking over to their friend, while all of his lion squad members deal with the incapacitated traffickers. “But I can tell the strength of one’s spirit. And you, young cervine, have the spirit of a mighty lion. I’m proud to have put an end to these traffickers with animals of such high caliber!”

Louis begins to tear up at the heartfelt words of Ibuki. Emotions overwhelm him, and he lunges forward to give the lion a big hug. “Thank you, Ibuki… *sniff*… Thank you…”

Time until next slide: 02:04:37…

After the traffickers had all been handcuffed, Ibuki called in for transport vehicles to take and process them. Once they were all secured, the commissioner volunteered to drive the Slidestars out of the harbor and back to the police station. They were currently in downtown Denko, close to where they arrived on this world.

“So that’s your story?” Ibuki asks Louis while he drives the police car. “The four of you come from a different reality, and are trying to find your way back home?”

Louis nods his head, which is difficult to do without scratching the roof of the car with his long horn. “Yes. We don’t know who made the timer, or why Jack was able to find it, but now we’re all just trying to get back to our world.” The deer looked back at his friends, who nodded in unison. Jack leaned forward to speak to the lion. “Have you had any encounters with anyone like us, or with sliding technology?”

Before the lion can answer the Labrador’s question, the radio clicks on. “Attention all officers, we have a reported break in at the Gosha residence. Please respond.” Ibuki takes hold of the comms and replies. “This is Commissioner Ibuki, I’m about ten minutes away from that location. I’ll take care of it, over and out.” The lion hangs up the call as he changes lanes. Legosi’s ears perk up at the mention of his grandfather’s name. “Gosha is widely known? Why?” Ibuki looks into his rear-view mirror back at Legosi. “He’s an important advocate for hybrid rights. A lot of animals would like to make his life a living hell.” Legosi takes a moment to ponder this and remembers something. “Shit, I think we left the door unlocked when we left Gosha’s house! Step on it, Ibuki!” The lion officer complies, pressing his foot harder on the accelerator after turning on the sirens.

Time until next slide: 01:53:46…

The group pulls up to the dragon’s house. Sure enough, the door is wide open, and the lights are still on inside. As soon as the car stops, Legosi leaps out of the back and runs to the open door, calling out his grandpa’s name. Haru follows suit, not wanting her boyfriend to get another scar. “Legosi wait! You can’t just barge in there! We don’t know who broke in!” Ibuki left his vehicle in pursuit of the two civilians, with Jack and Louis not far behind him.

The group freeze in their tracks when they see the horrid site in front of them. The Komodo dragon Gosha was currently on his knees, gagged and hands tied behind his back. His right eye was swollen shut and shining black. The is a short figure standing next to him, a figure that Legosi recognized. “Deshico?!” The civet looked at the wolf with intrigue. “Ah, it looks like I’m finally starting to gain a following! You see that, Gosha?” The small feline raises the old dragon’s chin to meet eye to eye. “There are people who agree with me. Hybrids are a sin against nature, and should not be supported! Just because you have connections to the Beastar and can afford to run all these charities, doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you get away with it!”

Louis steps in front of the group, his face warped into one of anger. He remembered this civet from that Kopi Luwak group, and how much that Deshico despised hybrids. “You need to leave now. This man is doing a great service for countless animals in need of help, and I’m not gonna let a bigot like you take that away from this world!” The deer begins to approach Deshico, but doesn’t get far before the crazed civet pulls out a gun and fires without hesitation.

Louis didn’t know what happened. One second, he was bracing himself to take a bullet, his eyes tightly shut. The next second, he heard a thud, followed by a scream from Haru and Jack. The red deer slowly opened his eyes, which had blood splattered on them. The civet took the opportunity of chaos to dash out of Gosha’s house. Louis looks around him before his gaze locks down to the ground at his feet. What he found shook him to his very core. Somehow, Commissioner Ibuki had leaped in front of the deer, saving him from the gunshot. The lion was bleeding profusely, having been hit near his neck.

“IBUKIIIIIIIII!!!!” Louis fell down to the lion’s level and lifted his head onto his lap, his eyes about to let loose the floodgates. “NO! NOT AGAIN, DAMMIT! NOT AGAIN!” The deer began shaking the lion’s soaked head, trying to stir him awake. “IBUKI, DON’T DO THIS TO ME! PLEASE WAKE UP!” Louis’s shaking did succeed to bring Ibuki to consciousness, but it was fleeting. “Louis…” The lion spoke, coughing up blood in between breaths. “It’s okay… You are young… you have so much more to experience…” At this time, Legosi and Haru had made their way beside Louis, Legosi kneeling down and wrapping an arm around the deer, while Haru placed a hand on the deer’s knee. Jack meanwhile went over to the panicked dragon, and removed the gag from his mouth. Gosha spit up a mixture of blood and venom that came from a cut in his busted lip, the fluid sizzling on the carpet. “W-what the hell is going on?” Jack cut through Gosha’s restraints. “I don’t know the full story, but you need to contact the police! There’s a car outside with a functioning radio. Hurry, call for back-up and paramedics!” The Labrador helps the old animal onto his feet, gesturing him to sprint for the radio.

Ibuki continues to choke out his final words to the distraught deer while Gosha rushes out of the house. “I’ve lived a good life… I was respected by the people… I had an excellent job, with some of the best damn lions I could ever ask to work along with… and a loving family…” The lion’s eyes began to dim, the life quickly leaving his cooling body. “You deserve to have that, kid… wherever you come from…” Ibuki put a hand on the deer’s sobbing face, and used his thumb to wipe away some tears. These are his last moments as he lets out his final breath, his hand dropping hard onto the floor beside him. The thud on the ground sends Louis over the tipping point, and the red deer leans himself over the lion’s body, holding it tightly while crying into the night.

Time until next slide: 00:01:13…

For the next hour and a half, Louis could do nothing but wail as he and the others sat outside of Gosha’s house. The paramedics and Shishisentai had arrived to clean up and pick up the body of their dead commissioner. The eight lions were using all of their willpower not to break down at the sight of their once living fellow officer, his eyes still open but empty. The paramedics stood by and allowed the lions to carry their fallen comrade to the ambulance. As they exited the house, you could see all members of the feline police squad shaking and biting their lips, doing everything they could to hold back their tears. They all managed to carry the body into the back, taking their seats around Ibuki on the ambulance. A paramedic closed the doors and went into the driver’s seat, driving away shortly after.

Legosi sat beside his friend, who despite losing his voice about twenty minutes ago, was still straining out sobs of despair and torment. “Louis?” The grey wolf reached out and scratched behind the deer’s ear in an attempt to soothe him. “Do you need to talk?”

Louis looks up at Legosi, revealing that his eyes are more bloodshot and searing red that a stoner’s, completely dehydrated from all the crying. He opens his mouth to speak, but his throat is so sore, it sounds like a balloon losing air, changing tone when Louis moves his lips. “It’s okay, Louis.” Legosi pulls the deer in for a hug. “Let your voice rest, and get rehydrated. We can talk as long as you need to when your throat heals.” Louis musters up a weak smile while his head rests on the wolf’s shoulder.

Jack and Haru are standing a few meters away from the duo, watching the countdown on the timer patiently. The two of them didn’t know how to comfort Louis, as this was a very specific issue that only he and Legosi had experience with. The Golden dog calls out to the embracing animals. “Wormhole’s about to open. Get ready.” Legosi nods and helps Louis up to his feet, where they both walk to the Labrador and bunny. Once they reach their friends, Jack holds out the timer in front of him. Just like before, the timer emits loud whirring and flashing lights as the countdown reaches zero, and projects the large tear in reality in front of the group. Haru is the first one to leap into the portal, her mind filled with questions on how to help Louis. Legosi supports the deer’s sluggish weight and helps him into the vortex, where they step in together. Finally, Jack takes a deep breath and reassures himself. “Welp, here we go again… Rex, please let the next world be nice…” The Golden Labrador gets a running start, and dives headfirst into the pulsating gateway, with promptly closes up behind him, cutting the Slidestars off from a world that will have some healing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter ended up being a hell of a lot longer than I intended! Even with the rushed ending, I've still managed to spill out over 5,400 words in this installment alone! I wanted to add some repeating history at the end to hopefully open the way for character development for Louis in the future. I don't know when the next chapter will come out, as I'm about to start my fourth semester of college in a few days! I hope you all stay tuned and to leave any criticisms you may have.


	7. Actor Legosi, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter shares similarities with the season one episode of Sliders titled "The King is Back". It's been about a week or two since the events of the Police-gumi adventure, and we find the Slidestars jumping from a world where a certain coyote partakes in a more "public" game of sumo, to a world where everyone seems to be crazy about Legosi. As if things couldn't get weird enough, a wolf from Legosi's past comes back into the picture, making Legosi wonder about how else his life could've been different.

“And there they go again folks!” An announcer in a crowded stadium exclaims into his microphone. “The two young warriors collide their bodies to push each other out of the ring once again! The score is tied two to two! It’s anyone’s game in this sumo match! Who will come out on top?!” The announcer has to strain his voice to drown out the overwhelming uproar of the enthralled audience. The stands are loaded left to right with eager fans, hyped up on thrills and competition.

In the middle of the stadium, two men are pushing their shoulders into the other, hands clasped onto the other’s sweat drenched arms. Their feet slip and cling onto the rigid floormat against the force of their opposing weights. One of the sumos is a 22 year old puma, the other a familiar 19 year old coyote. The puma pushes against his younger opponent, gaining some ground as he nears him towards the barrier of the white sumo circle. “Heh, you’ve held your own pretty well, kid! I haven’t seen someone like you climb the ranks so quickly before!” He leans his face in closer to the panting coyote’s. “But your rapid climb to the top ends here, ‘Dargam’! Any last words?”

The coyote furrows his eyebrows and begins pushing back against the puma’s strength. This sudden resistance throws the puma off of his game. “Wh-what?!” The coyote tenses up and stares into the puma’s panicked eyes. “My name…” He rushes against the midnight black mass, pushing him further and further across the ring. “Is…” The young sumos reach the opposite end of the circle, the situation being a mirror of what it was several seconds ago. With one final burst of strength, the coyote forces the puma out of the ring, and crashing onto the floor, drawing out a cacophony of cheers from the audience. “Durham!”

The announcer nearly falls out of his seat. “INCREDIBLE!!! WHAT A PERFORMANCE! NEWCOMER DURHAM HAS UTTERLY DOMINATED HIS OPPONENT, WHO HAS A 10 KG WEIGHT ADVANTAGE OVER THE COYOTE!!!” While this is happening, Durham takes a moment to bow to his fallen competitor, remembering to be respectful. “You were an admirable opponent. I am grateful that you were able to make me stronger.” With his respects paid, the exhausted coyote steps off of the stage and walks over to the announcer to claim his prize.

Meanwhile, we find the Slidestars sitting in the front of the stands, about to get up and congratulate this alternate coyote. “Holy cow!” Legosi cries out with enthusiasm. “I never thought I’d see the day Durham would win a game of sumo!” The wolf pats Jack on the back as they walk towards the winner. “Remember all those times he’d challenge Collot and I, and lose every time?” The Golden Labrador’s tail wags as memories of his old dorm room play in his head. “Yeah! Durham always got back up, ready for more! It’s nice to see a version of him that saw his struggles and hard work pay off!”

“It also helps the fact that this world’s Cherryton had a sumo club that gave Durham a head start in training!” Haru hops alongside her boyfriend, snacking on a paper bag of popcorn. She has to hold the bag tightly, as Legosi’s happy tail hits her in the back of the head rhythmically, causing recoil and for her to drop a few pieces.

The group reaches the celebrating coyote, who is chugging a large bottle of water provided by an equally familiar hyena, Miguno. “Great job out there, man! You sure showed that puma what for!” He pats Durham’s damp back, rubbing his fingers through his matted fur. The coyote takes a break from guzzling water to look at Miguno. “Thank you, babe! I couldn’t have done it without your support!” Durham pulls Miguno in for a hug, wrapping his thick arms around the hyena. “Aww, you’re welcome! Tonight, I’m gonna make you a sumo platter to celebrate! I know how much you like it when I cook it!” Durham’s tail wags against his mawashi at the prospect of his boyfriend’s cooking, his stomach growling. “Man, with how good you make them, I’ll move up to the next weight class in no time!” He laughs while rubbing his belly, which is a little bigger than the homeworld’s Durham thanks to the demanding diet of the sumo.

Jack and Legosi saw this from a distance. The wolf is the first one to speak up. “Makes you wonder if OUR Durham and Miguno have the same relationship, huh Jack?” The Golden Lab shrugs his shoulders as he whips out the timer, which has less than thirty seconds before it opens another portal. “Looks like we don’t have time to congratulate him.” Jack looks around the emptying stadium to spot all members of the group. “Anyone know where Louis went?” He begins sniffing the air, trying to discern the red deer’s scent from the scent of concession food and adrenaline. Legosi beats Jack to the punch by spotting Louis amongst the crowd thanks to Legosi’s height. “He’s over there, just walking. C’mon.” The wolf picks Haru up to avoid losing her in the crowd as Jack and him rush off towards a sulking Louis.

“HEY, LOUIS!” The red deer looks up at the waving yellow dog calling out to him. “We gotta go!” The dog points to a bathroom, which Louis guessed they could use to slide discreetly. The deer just simply nods his head in acknowledgement and follows the rest of the group. (Ibuki… why’d it have to happen again…) Louis keeps his eyes to ground as the crowd of fans move all around him. He hadn’t been able to get the images of that night out of his head before their last slide. Going through the pain of losing what was essentially a second father to him a second time, despite it not technically being the same lion, was causing the red deer to grow distant and silent. He knew that his friends noticed his behavior and wanted to help, but Louis just wasn’t ready to talk about it.

The deer gets pulled out of his mind by an impatient Labrador. “Louis, c’mon! The timer’s about to go off! This way!” Jack drags Louis by the wrist through the crowd and into the men’s restroom. Legosi and Haru are waiting for the two of them, the wolf holding the rabbit to his chest. They step out of the way as Jack holds the whirring timer in front of him. Like a few times before, a vortex opens up in front of the group, bouncing blue light off of the porcelain urinals and grimy mirrors. Louis shuffles through the portal first, not even bothering to look up from the floor. Legosi, showing a small frown on his muzzle at the sight of his friend, holds on tight to Haru and takes a big leap into the wormhole. Jack sighs as he holds the timer to his own chest, and dives headfirst into the portal, unaware of what could be lying on the other side.

\----------

The portal closes up behind Jack once he lands back in the men’s restroom. He looks around the room to see that everyone made it through in one piece. Legosi put Haru down and was in the stall relieving himself, and Louis rested his back against the wall, still lost in his thoughts.

“Okay,” Jack spoke to his group of friends. “I’m gonna step outside and get an idea of the world we’ve landed on. Just meet me at the entrance when you guys are done!” The dog walks out of the bathroom and into a crowd of different people attending a different sporting event.

A minute or so later, Legosi washes his hands in the sink. “Haru, do you need to go before we go look for Jack?” the wolf asks his girlfriend with care. The rabbit shakes her head and grabs hold of the wolf’s large hand. “I’m good, Legosi.” Haru turns her head and looks at Louis. “What about you, Louis?”

The deer sheepishly raises his head to look at the two animals with sorrow-filled eyes. He barely manages to breath out “No. Let’s go.”, before uncrossing his arms and walking out of the bathroom.

Legosi grimaces at Louis’s strained response, but doesn’t say anything. He knows that Louis will talk about the incident with the alternate Deshico and Commissioner Ibuki when he’s ready. Right now, the red deer just needs to think his feelings over. Legosi takes Haru and they both follow Louis into the crowd, making sure not to lose sight of those distinctive horns.

As the couple shifted their way through the sea of fanfare-decorated sports fans, Haru’s sensitive ears can pick up different whispers from the animals they pass by:  
“Isn’t that wolf Legosi?”  
“I think it is!”  
“What’s a guy like him doing in a sports stadium?”  
“Do you think he’s scouting out locations for his next film?”

(Next film?) Haru’s attention is caught by that last statement. (What could that mean?) She ponders this as her boyfriend and her continue to make their way towards the stadium entrance. If they weren’t so focused on not losing track of Louis, they would’ve noticed the nearby animals around them stop and stare at Legosi, some of them even taking pictures with their smartphones.

As he waits for his friends to exit the building, Jack occupies himself by trying to read the advertisement on the bus station. The words on the paper surface aren’t composed of Hiragana, Katakana, or even Kanji, but rather Romaji. Jack pulls out his phone to find that the text has also been converted into the Latin alphabet. (This will take a little time to get used to), the Labrador thinks as he looks up this Japan’s history online. His search is interrupted when he hears Legosi calling out to him, looking up to see that his friends have made it outside. Jack waves to them as they catch up with the golden dog.

Haru asks “Do you know how long we’re going to be here, Jack?” The Labrador pulls out the timers and reads the display. “Shoot,” Jack’s eyebrows furrow. “The better half of a week, it looks like. We’ll have to find a motel to stay in.”

“OH MY GOD!!!” a shriek can be heard about ten meters from the group. Legosi looks back to see a handful of young wolf women, who are squealing with excitement and pointing at the confused male wolf. “IT’S LEGOSI! THE HEARTTHROB HIMSELF!” The pack of fangirls rush to Legosi before he even has time to react. One of the girls bumps Haru with her hip, sending the rabbit colliding into Louis’s good leg. The red deer grasps the rabbit’s ear, holding her in place before she has a chance to allow the recoil to send her to the hard pavement. The wolf is too focused on the surrounded Legosi to take notice or apologize.

“I absolutely loved you in ‘Ready Player One’, Legosi-san!” One of the girls said while holding on to the confused wolf’s bicep.

“You were so adorable in ‘The Wolf From The Moon’ back in ’07!” Another wolf took out her phone and took an impromptu selfie with Legosi.

Legosi fidgets from all of the attention. Sure, on his world, he had received praise from animals who were inspired by his fight with Melon, but they’d only be occasional carni-herbi couples. “Woah, woah, woah, I uh… appreciate the thanks.” The male wolf wiggles his way out of the fangirls’ grasps, backing up closer to his friends. “I worked really hard in those films!” (What kind of world have we landed in now?) Legosi asks himself.

“Can we get an autograph, Legosi-san?” A wolf whom Legosi could vaguely remember visiting the wolf habitat with back at Cherryton pulls out a school notebook from her handbag, and holds it in front of Legosi. To his surprise, the book has a picture of himself printed on the cover, looking like the poster of a teenage rom-com. The girl wolf holds out a pen as well, her tail wagging like a whirlwind behind her.

“Um…” Before Legosi can say anything, a car horn blares behind him. He turns around to see a limo pulled up to the curb. The rear window rolls down and another wolf’s claw pokes out of the open window. “Legosi, what are you doing here? Your mom said you and her were having lunch together!”

(Another world where my mom’s alive.) Legosi ponders the older wolf’s statement before the canine in the limo sticks his head out. “C’mon, I’ll take y-”. The older wolf stops his statement as he scans his eyes down Legosi’s stature. He takes notice of the various scars Legosi has acquired in the past two years. “Oh, my bad kid! Say, did anyone tell you you look just like my son?”

Legosi takes a double take. (His son? Does he mean…)

“Must be popular with the ladies!” The wolf in the limo continues on his ramblings. “Excuse me.” Legosi interrupts him. “Are you Miyagi, sir?”

It’s the older wolf’s turn to widen his eyes, taken aback by Legosi’s voice. “Holy cow, you even sound like my son!” The older wolf recomposes himself. “But yes, I am Japanese famous actor Miyagi. Sorry, I’m running behind schedule, so autographs will have to wait!” Miyagi rolls the limo’s window back up, and the long vehicle drives away from the group.

“Dang it!” One of the fangirls pouts. “I really thought it was him.” She turns away and walks off, the other two following close behind. Haru heads over next to her boyfriend. “Legosi, do you know Miyagi?” The wolf looks down on his bunny girlfriend with a complicated look on his face. “Kind of…” He looks onto the limo departing onto the main street. “He’s my father.” Haru’s, Jack’s, and even Louis’s jaws drop to the floor at Legosi’s statement. The wolf is brought out of his silent moment when his friends exclaim in unison “YOUR FATHER?!?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost a full month since the last installment, and it's half the length of last chapter. I've been invested in school, and with each new chapter of the official Beastars manga that gets released every week, adding more information that I might have to retcon, updating this story becomes more and more daunting. I think I might try making these installments shorter to see if that improves frequency and maybe make it less intimidating for me to try and drag it out to a large word amount.


	8. Actor Legosi, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their encounter with Legosi's estranged father, they dig in further to learn that this world's Legosi is a famous actor thanks to his father's influence in the film industry. Not having a whole lot of money, and debit cards being rendered useless thanks to not owning a banking account in this world, the Slidestars decide to crash at Miyagi's house. He agrees, but on one condition. One condition that will bring Legosi face to face with a shocking character.

Time until next slide: 04:08:36:14…

“Legosi, that story hardly counts as proof that Miyagi, a sub-par actor, is your biological father.” Louis said to the wolf with an agitated tone, the first time he’s spoken in several days, if not weeks. “A spiritual encounter with your mother while you were in an abdominal trauma-induced coma hardly constitutes as proof. How do you know it wasn’t some fabricated story your mind made up to pass the time while you recovered?”

Legosi shook his head at the deer. “The sensation of my mother’s ‘ghost’ felt like nothing I had ever experienced before.” The wolf and his friends were at the in-stadium food court to refuel and wrap their heads around Legosi’s claim. Legosi takes a sip of his soda before continuing his story. “And I have other forms of proof. While I was in the hospital after the Rexmas day fight, my grandpa visited me frequently. We would have long talks, and one day, I asked him about Miyagi. I told him the same thing I told you guys, and he confirmed my mother’s story. I also had bloodwork done during my stay, and I requested a DNA test. Sure enough, Miyagi and I share the same blood.”

Jack runs his fingers through the top of his head as he processes this information. “Woah,” he muttered, “so every time we and the boys watched one of the movies he was in, we saw your father! That’s insane!”

Legosi chuckles, finding it hard to accept it himself, despite knowing for almost a year. Haru then speaks up. “From the way this Miyagi spoke, it sounds like he stayed with your mother, Legosi.” The small rabbit pulls out her phone and looks up Miyagi on IMDB. “He also seems to have been in a lot more projects on this world!” Haru stops scrolling and taps on another link. “And look at this!”

The other animals crowd around Haru to get a look at her screen, and their eyes collectively widen when they see a page dedicated to Legosi. “You’ve been acting since you were seven years old, Legosi!”

The grey wolf sits there flabbergasted. Not only did his mom live, but Legosi was famous on this world. (Was Miyagi really that much of an influence on mom?) He snaps out of his daze and leans closer to Haru. “Do we know where my family and I live on this world? Maybe we could crash there?”

Jack puts a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “Last time we got involved in the affairs of people in our lives, Louis got really hurt.” The Labrador lowers his head a little after his statement, as he feels the red deer’s sorrowful eyes bore into the back of his skull.

“I think it could be fun.” Haru chimes in. “I’ve always wanted to see the life of a celebrity!” The bunny pulls up a navigation app on her phone and types for where Miyagi and his family could be. “Oh wow! He actually lives in the city! We can take a train there!”

“Well, then. All those in favor of seeing if we can stay at Miyagi’s, raise your hand.” Legosi spoke as he raised his large arm up in the air. This was followed by Haru, and then Louis. “Really? You wanna see Miyagi too, Louis?”

The deer gives off an uncharacteristically shy grin and shrugs his shoulders. “His films have always been a guilty pleasure of mine. It would be neat to see him, and your mother again.”

“Alright!” Legosi crumbles up the wrapper from his bean burger and tosses it into the nearest trash can. “Let’s get going! The next train should be departing in an hour!”

The rest of the slidestars follow the grey wolf’s lead out of the stadium, embarking on what should be a bizarre encounter.

Time until next slide: 04:07:12:49…

The afternoon sun shines on the streets of a gated community that the slidestars are traveling. Jack speaks up while rubbing his sides, which have obtained small bruises from eager fans pushing him aside to get closer to Legosi, saying “Well, that took a lot longer than expected.”

“Tell me about it!” Haru pitches into the conversation, digging her pinky into her ear to try and stop the ringing, obtained from the overwhelming squeals of fangirls. “Everyone absolutely adores you, Legosi! I’d thought we’d never be able to get off the train!”

Legosi looks around at all the fancy houses in the neighborhood. “I don’t even remember seeing this place in our Denko city.” The wolf turns his head back towards Jack. “Did this Miyagi build this place?”

The Labrador shakes his golden head. “No. Not everything in this universe is connected to your father, Legosi. Alternate realities have more than just one major difference that separate them from our world. They’re also made up of smaller, unrelated differences. In this universe, I’m guessing the city council decided this would be a great place to build a rich neighborhood.”

Legosi accepted his friend’s explanation, only using half of his mind to listen. The other half was being used to pat down his roughed-up fur and straighten his clothes. He had hands of every kind grabbing him on the train ride, wanting a piece of him. It was very stressful, and the wolf hoped that he and his friends could lay low at Miyagi’s place. The animal at the front gate mistook this Legosi for the one of this world, so the wolf and his friends were able to just walk on pass the large gate that closed off the rich neighborhood of actors and artists from the middle working class.

“There it is!” Haru exclaimed and pointed out in front of her, getting the attention of the others. About two houses away from their position rested a mailbox that the Miyagi family crest emblazoned on its side. The driveway housed the same limousine that the group encountered Miyagi in, along with three exquisite sports cars. The house itself was three stories tall, with a large second floor balcony.

Legosi is the first one to knock on the front door when the group reaches the house. It doesn’t take long before a middle aged dalmatian answers the door, adorned in butler attire. “Ah, you must be the look-a-like we encountered on our leisurely drive into the city.”

“Um, yes.” Legosi replies slowly. (This guy must’ve been the limo driver.) “Listen, I know this may seem out of nowhere, but my friends and I are just passing through Denko on our way to some relatives up north, but our car broke down and is in the shop for at least four days.” The wolf steps aside to show Haru, Louis, and Jack to the dalmatian. “We don’t have anywhere to stay. So we were wondering if we could crash here?”

The dalmatian blinks a couple times before responding to the wolf. “You serious? Sir, Miyagi and his son are very busy people, who can’t take the time out of their days to supervise a handful of-”

“IT’S YOU AGAIN!” Miyagi was walking down the stairs when he overheard his butler talking with someone at the front door. He semi-jogs to the door to shake Legosi’s hand. “I’ve been thinking about you, kid!”

Legosi’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “You have, sir?”

“Indeed! Seeing how much you resemble my son, I got to thinking you maybe the solution to a problem I’ve been having for a couple weeks now!” Miyagi’s tail wags as he converses with Legosi. “You see, I’ve been looking for a stunt double to act out some fighting scenes in my son’s latest film, but no wolf I find seems to match his essence, you know?” Miyagi pauses his speech and looks at Legosi’s friends. “Well, come on in! Make yourself comfortable!” He ushers the group in through the front door, much to the shock of the butler.

Legosi and the others follow Miyagi up a grand staircase in the front foyer. The walls are lined with family photos. One of them shows a 9 year old Legosi holding up an award for one of his earliest roles. Another one shows a 13 year old Legosi with his mother and father on the red carpet for a world premiere. Miyagi takes the group into his at-home office, where the backwall has a glass case holding his and Legosi’s film awards.

Legosi takes a seat at the opposite side of the desk near the backwall. Miyagi sits down in his seat and resumes his talk. “So, if you’re willing to do a couple fights, I’ll let you and your friends stay until your car is fixed! Hell, we’ll even pay you! What do you say?” The elder wolf holds his hand out, awaiting a hand shake.

Legosi leans back in his seat to consider Miyagi’s offer. Haru bounces in place while tugging on the wolf’s sleeve excitedly. “Leg- I mean…” Haru pauses to think of a cover name for her boyfriend. “…Bela, this could be a lot of fun! Plus, we get to stay in a fancy house!”

Legosi looks over to Louis, who is staring at more pictures of the Miyagi family. The deer turns to the wolf and smirks. “When will we get another opportunity like this?”

Legosi doesn’t even need to look over at Jack, for he can feel the air shift with the Labrador’s wagging tail. Sensing the excitement from his friends, Legosi buckles under the peer pressure and takes hold of Miyagi’s reaching hand. “You got yourself a deal, Miyagi-sama!” The young wolf’s lip curl into a wide smile when he feels his ‘father’s’ firm grip. (This guy really was my dad…)

Time until next slide: 04:07:05:44…

After signing a contract with Miyagi, [which took a little longer than necessary because A.) The entire thing was written in Romaji rather than traditional Japanese characters, and B.) Legosi had to remember to write ‘Bela’ rather than his real name in Romaji.], Miyagi personally takes the group of slidestars to a large wing of the house. “I like to interact and work alongside the scriptwriters and cinematographers whenever I’m involved in a film, so I had several guest bedrooms installed for overnight creative sessions.” Miyagi rests a hand on Legosi’s shoulder as he and the others walk down the hallway.

The group stops at the door at the far right of the hall, and Miyagi hands Haru a key. “This will be your bedroom for the duration of your stay, little miss.” The bunny takes hold of the key and opens the door. The room itself is quite spacious, containing a 60-inch TV facing the foot of a large queen-sized bed. Next to the bed rests a luxurious dresser with a lamp and an alarm clock. A mini fridge lies further alongside the same wall. In the opposite corner of the room, there is a high specs video editing computer set up at a desk, complete with double monitors, mic, and camera.

“Woah.” A statement of wonder escapes Haru’s lips as she enters the room. “This is remarkable, Miyagi-sama.” Haru jumps onto the giant bed and begins to burrow into the sheets. “So soft!”

“I’m happy you find it to your liking!” Miyagi bows his head before closing the door. He turns to the three young men still with him. “Okay, now the Golden Labrador will be getting the adjacent bedroom, and the red deer shall be staying in the room down near the front right of the hall.” The elder wolf hands Jack and Louis their respective room keys and sends them off to get comfortable. Jack heads straight for his computer to look up anything relating to sliding technology or evidence of previous sliders on this world. Louis walks back up the hall and into his own room.

“Excuse me, Miyagi-sama?” Legosi questions the older wolf. “Don’t I get a key?” Miyagi shakes his head. “There’s no need, Mr.Bela. You’re going to be sharing a room with your lead actor! You don’t have long to get to know him, and that chemistry is essential for being a convincing stunt double!”

Miyagi leads the younger dazed wolf out of the hallway and up another set of stairs. “W-wait, you mean I’m going to meet Legosi, sir?!” Legosi’s large lizard eyes widen at the thought of encountering his double.

Miyagi stops at a bedroom door with “Legosi” engraved on a silver plaque. “The one and only, Mr.Bela! You get the honor of working with my son face to face!” Miyagi knocks on the bedroom door and speaks louder. “Legosi! We found you a stunt double! Come on out and greet the man! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!”

Miyagi is met with the sounds of feet shuffling behind the door growing steadily louder. The click of the bedroom lock follows suite before the door opens wide. Legosi’s jaw drops to the floor when the young wolf reveals himself.

This Legosi is slender and lean, as opposed to our Legosi’s strong, buff stature. Not a single blemish or scar can be spotted on the young actor’s body, and his fur is slicker and better groomed than the slidestar. Looking into his eyes, our Legosi notices that the actor’s pupils are wider than his own, more resembling his wolf side. They shine differently than the sclera, leading the slidestar to believe that perhaps this Legosi is wearing special contacts. The young actor is dressed in a casual t-shirt and pajama bottoms, clearly ready for bed.

“Alright, old man!” The actor Legosi bursts out, grabbing the hands of the still shocked slidestar Legosi. “You really know how to pick ‘em! He looks just like me!” He spots Legosi’s missing ear and scratched eye. “We’ll have some work to do in the makeup department, and may have to find some clothes to hide his bulk, but otherwise you can barely tell the difference!” The actor begins to sniff Legosi, taking in deep whiffs of his neck. “He even smells like me!” Actor Legosi steps aside and embraces Miyagi, gripping on tightly to his body. “Thanks, dad!”

Miyagi laughs and returns his son’s hug, petting the back of his head. “Only the best for my boy!” The two wolfs break their hug, and Miyagi clears his throat. “This is Bela. He’s going to be staying with you in your room! I want you to get to know him, because we’ll be heading to the studio after breakfast to shoot some action scenes!” With a final pat on the back, Miyagi leaves the two nearly identical wolves to their own devices, walking back down the stairs.

Slidestar Legosi is left standing in the middle of the doorway watching Miyagi leave. He’s brought out of his trance when Actor Legosi bumps him in the shoulder. “Well c’mon, Bela. I’ll help you set up your bed!” Slidestar Legosi turns to his double and walks into the bedroom, still trying to comprehend the entity in front of him. He has one final thought of (This is gonna take some getting used to), before he shuts the bedroom door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the Beastars manga will be coming to an end on October 7th. After 196 chapters, 22 volumes, and around 49 months, the story of Legosi, Haru, Louis, and everyone else we've come to love will be over. Whether it be for the time being, or for forever, it's too early to say. I started reading back last November starting at chapter 152, and it has kept me sane through the pandemic. I hope to see the fandom grow with the release of Season 2 of the anime in January, and for everyone to remember these characters fondly!


	9. Actor Legosi, Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It looks like an early morning for the Slidestars as Miyagi is more than eager to start filming with his son's new stunt double. They are treated to a divine breakfast and are shipped off to the studio in the blink of an eye! How will this first shooting day pan out, considering our Legosi has only acted one time in his entire life?

Time until next slide: 03:17:49:06…

It was around 6 am. The early morning sun was peeking over the large forest in Miyagi’s back yard, piercing its rays through the east side windows. In the halls of the mini mansion, the dalmatian butler walks to the bedroom door of the two wolves. When he reaches the door, the butler pulls out a key from his vest pocket. He inserts it into the doorknob, and enters the bedroom. The dalmatian approaches the two sleeping wolves. Having a bedroom all to himself meant that the young actor Legosi [from here on referred to as LegosiII] only had a single bed. Granted, it was king sized, meaning it had plenty of room to house two or even three animals at once. More of the space was currently occupied by another wolf, this one bearing a striking resemblance to LegosiII. Some stark differences, however, showed all over the stranger’s body, from his much beefier build, to the various scars. The butler didn’t know why Miyagi was so ready to allow this wolf and his friends to enter their home. He remembered overhearing how stressed the old actor was getting from not being able to find a stunt double for his son, but the butler found the strange wolf’s resemblance to be uncanny.

It was not his job to judge, though. Right now, it was the butler’s job to wake up the sleeping wolves. With a clearing of his throat, the dalmatian bellows out repetitive barks that echo throughout the room. Legosi the slidestar [from here on referred to as LegosiI] jumped out of the king sized bed in a state of shock. “GAH!!!” He held his fists out in front of him to defend, but lowered them as he remembered his surroundings. “Oh, sorry mister butler… you startled me…”

“Not accustomed to waking up so early, Mr. Bela?” The dalmatian snarkly replies to LegosiI, chuckling. LegosiII rises up from his slumber, stretching and yawning. He looks over to his left to see LegosiI and the butler. “Ah, good morning Spot! Is it breakfast time already?” The actor pulls himself out of bed and walks next to LegosiI.

“Indeed, master Legosi.” Spot bows and proceeds to head out the door. “The other guests have already been awakened, and are currently enjoying breakfast in the dining hall.” The elderly dalmatian gracefully exits the bedroom. LegosiII pats LegosiI on the shoulder. “C’mon Bela, let’s go downstairs! My guess is that we have a long shooting day ahead of us. That’s why we were woken up so early!” The actor bolts out of the room and down the hall. LegosiI can hear the wolf’s footsteps boom down the stairs. The large wolf follows his double at a more subdued pace, not wanting to do anything that could have him or his friends thrown out.

When LegosiI reaches the main dining hall, his nose is hit with an assortment of delicious scents. His mind was filled with bliss as the smell of fresh eggs and berries surrounded him. He opens his eyes, after realizing he had closed him while smelling the food, to find a sight that woke up his hungry stomach.

A long table sat in the middle of the room, able to sit about 10 to 12 animals. On the table itself was a smorgasbord of all kinds of breakfast foods. Two opposing piles caught LegosiI’s attention first, one made up of pancakes of varying fruit composition, the other an equally wide arrange of waffles. A large plate of scrambled eggs lays next to a plate of fresh muffins, their aromas tunneling into LegosiI’s sinuses. There was also beans on toast, and various fish-meat products.

“Ah, I see Spot managed to wake you two up!” LegosiI is brought out of his daze by Miyagi’s exclamation. “Come on and eat, we gotta leave for the studio in 30 minutes!” The elder wolf motions his hand for the two Legosis to join him at the table before taking a bite out of his hash browns. LegosiII wastes no time in taking a seat next to his father and filling his plate with pancakes and fish-bacon.

LegosiI walks to the table and takes a seat next to Haru. He finds Louis elegantly munching on a blueberry muffin across the table, and Jack gobbling up an omelet next to the red deer. “Le-” the golden Labrador swallows a big bite of his eggs before correcting himself. “I mean Bela, how’d you sleep?”

LegosiI scrapes some scrambled eggs onto his plate. “I slept pretty well. Legosi and I were just chatting until we fell asleep.” LegosiI thought back to last night, and how he took the opportunity to learn as much about his double as he could. On this world, Miyagi stayed with Leano after their one-night stand. Even after Leano made it clear that she was just using Miyagi to have a wolf cub, the struggling actor found her to be beautiful and wonderful. Miyagi didn’t feel right leaving a mentally frazzled hybrid alone with her father to take care of his kid, so he found his way to Gosha. He would come to learn of Gosha’s history and develop further appreciation for Leano. Miyagi made frequent visits to the Gosha residence to check in on Leano during her pregnancy. The female wolf grew warmer and warmer to Miyagi, amazed that someone besides her father didn’t find her scary or deformed. By the time LegosiII was born, the two wolves had grown very close together, and helped each other in different ways. Miyagi landed a big role in a movie while Leano was pregnant, and the film would turn out to be a success, boosting the wolf’s recognition. This allowed him to make more money, which he used to help the bearer of his child financially.

These interactions helped Leano metamorphosize much healthier as more and more dragon traits showed up. Rather than morphing into an imbalanced hodge-podge of wolf and dragon, Leano’s scales grew around her symmetrically and steadily. Her mental state and self-image improved whenever she was with Miyagi. Shortly after LegosiII turned two years old, Leano and Miyagi got married, and things kept going up.

“I wish I could go to the studio with you, my little potato.” Leano pats LegosiII on the head as she gets up from the table, having finished her breakfast already. “But I have another seminar I have to speak at.” She plants a kiss on his cheek. She then heads over to Miyagi and gives him a kiss on the lips. “Have a great day, sweetie.”

“Same to you, honey!” Miyagi pulls his wife in for a hug. He licks some syrup off his lips before standing up. “Speaking of which, we should probably leave earlier. We’ll need to get Bela’s makeup done. Set him up with a prosthetic ear.” LegosiI shyly covers his stump of an ear. Haru leans over and rubs his leg. “It’s okay, Bela. It’s meant to make you look even more like Legosi, I imagine.” LegosiI nods at his girlfriend’s reassurance, and resumes consuming his breakfast.

Time until next slide: 03:16:27:06…

The sun barely reaches above the massive studio buildings that the slidestars pull up to in the limo despite it being half past 7 am. Jack roles down the window to gaze at the massive buildings, his eyes full of wonder. Louis is helping himself to the complimentary sparkling water the limo had stocked up to help ease his full stomach. LegosiI is rubbing the back of Haru’s ears as she rests her head on his side, sleeping off the large breakfast they had enjoyed. He couldn’t help but smile at the way Haru’s little nose twitched at random intervals, finding it to be but one of countless reasons why he loved her.

LegosiI is brought out of his little world by Miyagi looking back. “We’re gonna stop by the makeup department to get your measurements Bela. Afterwards, we’ll head to the stunt room to see what you’re capable of.” The limo slows down to a crawl until stopping completely. Miyagi steps out and opens the door for the group. LegosiI gently pats the top of Haru’s cotton ball head, stirring her awake. Jack and Louis have already made their way out of the limo.

“Hnnng… are we here already?” Haru’s brown button eyes creak open as she’s drawn out of her food induced slumber.

“Almost.” LegosiI holds her hand to guide her out of the limo. “Miyagi says this is the makeup department. They gotta get my measurements or something.” The rabbit allows the wolf to tug her along down the pavement and into the studio door, still not fully awake.

The couple enter the makeup department in a sea of hanging costumes and makeup booths. The blinding colors overwhelm them for a few seconds until they are able to spot the rest of the group. Louis is nursing the same cup of sparkling water he poured about ten minutes ago in the limo, while Jack fumbles the timer around in his hands. LegosiI lets Haru take a seat so that he can talk with Jack. “You brought the timer with you? We shouldn’t have to worry about it for a few more days.”

The Golden Labrador looks over to his best friend. “I don’t want the timer to leave my sight, Legosi. Someone could find it and think it’s a remote or a toy, and could really damage it.” The wolf shakes his head. “If that were to happen, I don’t think they could do any more damage than what we did to it. Have you learned anything else about it, Jack?”

The dog furrows his eyebrows. “No. I spent all night on the internet looking for evidence of trans-dimensional travel, and the only results I could find were for science fiction properties. And I can’t study the timer further because I can’t find a single panel or seam in its casing. Look.” Jack hands the timer over to LegosiI, who proceeds to turn the device around in his hands. The entire blue surface is completely smooth, save for the artistic sea-weed stalks climbing up the back. There are grooves on the sides designed to rest your fingers on, and a pill shaped button on the right that Jack said was the trigger. They haven’t had to use that button, as the vortex opens up right when the timer reaches zero.

Before LegosiI can say anything, Miyagi steps into the room with a familiar toucan. “Ah good! You’re out of the limo, I see.” The elder wolf moves to the side to let the toucan walk closer towards LegosiI. “I’d like for you to meet Teresa. She’s going to be doing your makeup, Bela.” Louis can’t help but open his jaw wide off to the side and out of sight of the toucan. Haru’s eyes widen big enough to show off her sclera.

“Oh my goodness! You were right, Miyagi-san!” Teresa juts forward to LegosiI, stopping a good foot away from his body. “He looks just like your son! I shouldn’t have to spend too long on his makeup!” The toucan pulls out a measuring tape from her purse and begins sizing up the beefy wolf. LegosiI has to back his head away to avoid getting decked by Teresa’s large beak. The bird looks up to see the wolf’s missing ear. “Oof. Gonna take at least a day before we can have a prosthetic ready. But we can take care of these scars here and now!” Teresa grabs LegosiI’s large hand and pulls him towards a separate room. “Follow me, Mr.Bela. Let’s get you all dolled up for your big scenes!”

After the two animals vanish into the makeup room, Miyagi looks down at his wristwatch. “Bela will have to catch up with us later. I wanna get as much filming done as we can.” The elder wolf makes a brisk walk outside of the department. “I’ll have a crew member cart him to the set location when he’s all set up. You guys will have to stay close to me.” Louis, Jack, and Haru leave the building and reenter the limo, where LegosiII has remained. He looks up from his phone. “Hope you guys are ready for a behind the scenes look at some movie magic!” He chuckles as the group packs inside and the limo drives off.

Time until next slide: 03:14:23:47…

It is half past 9 in the morning. The sun can now shine its light over the studio lot. The warmth of late spring reaches our main wolf as he rides in a golf kart driven by Teresa. He goes to stick his head out to feel the sunshine more on his face, but the toucan pulls LegosiI back in. “Hey, I don’t want that makeup to melt, or that fake ear to fly away in the wind!” The wolf scratches the back of his head. “Heh, right. My bad…” He takes a moment to look into the kart’s side mirror to marvel at his appearance. LegosiI was wearing a white under shirt with some padding around the abdomen to try and match his double’s frame. Some grey hair dye had been applied to the scars around LegosiI’s right eye and the tattoo on his left shoulder, perfectly blending in with his own fur. The prosthetic that Teresa was referring to was attached to his nub by a couple of clips that dug snugly into his ear flesh. LegosiI wanted so desperately to scratch at it, but it looked fragile and he didn’t want to risk breaking it, lest he anger the makeup specialist.

The two arrived at the building where filming was taking place. “Here we are Mr.Bela! Miyagi and your friends should be waiting for you!” LegosiI moves himself out of the kart and walks towards the entrance, but not before turning around and waving back at Teresa. “Thank you for the lift!” The toucan smiles before driving away back to the makeup department.

Everyone turns their head when they hear the double doors blam open. Miyagi is the first one to react verbally. “Ah, Bela! I see that Teresa has done a mighty fine job! I can’t tell you apart from my own son!” The elder wolf pats LegosiI on the back as they walk to the center of attention. The younger wolf notices the female wolf and large artic tiger waiting for them. The wolf has midnight black fur, and is tied to a chair with her large breasts poking outward. The arctic tiger is dressed in a fake yakuza business suit, brandishing a butterfly knife. LegosiI speaks up. “I’m… guessing you want me to fight this tiger guy?”

“Precisely, Bela!” Miyagi shines his sharp teeth in a genuine smile. “In this scene, my son’s character has found his kidnapped girlfriend and must save her from being killed by a gang of tigers! You think you can make the fight look real?”

LegosiI swallows a lump in his throat, thinking about how close this situation matches the gauntlet he had to endure almost two years ago before the meteor festival. (On the bright side, it’s only one guy, and I’ve done a lot of growing since that night. Besides, it’s all fake anyway.) He regains his composure, nodding to Miyagi. “Alright, then take your position!” The elder wolf runs to his director’s chair and whips out a bullhorn. “Fight scene 4, take 1!” The guy with the clapperboard steps into the frame of one of the cameras. “Aaaaaand… ACTION!”

Once the clapperboard is out of the shot, the arctic tiger lets out a generic cackle. “Oh boy, the boss is gonna be really pleased with me when I bring him back TWO fresh wolves!” He charges at LegosiI, holding his prop knife in front of him. LegosiI gets flashbacks to the old Shishigumi boss that nearly took his life and his instincts take over. As soon at he is in range, LegosiI throws a wicked jab right into the tiger’s meaty throat. “GAH!!!” The striped beast lets out a high-pitched gasp before he collapses into a fetal position, clutching his undoubtably bruised adam’s apple. LegosiI waits for him to get up, his heart pounding, when he hears Miyagi yell “CUT!” and some of the standby medical staff hurry to the wheezing tiger. LegosiI looks around and sees the shocked expressions on everyone around him.

He can see Louis rubbing his temples, Jack covering his eyes and shaking, and Haru stifling a chuckle. LegosiI begins to shrink into himself, folding his ears down and his tail between his legs. “Bela,” Miyagi spoke up. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but remember this is STUNT fighting! We need to make sure to limit actual injuries.” The younger wolf looks down in embarrassment. “Yes, Miyagi-sama…” The elder wolf raises his bullhorn again. “TAKE TEN, EVERYONE!” LegosiI watches as the tiger he assaulted is taken away on a gurney, thinking to himself (It’s gonna be a long day).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am terribly sorry for how long it took for this chapter to come out! I was making some hard life decisions and just couldn't find the motivation to work on this in my free time, despite the plan being having shorter chapters come out at a more frequent pace. I just have to accept that the chapters will be done when they are done. I hope people are still excited to see this series continue!


	10. Actor Legosi, Part4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legosi was put through the wringer and back on filming day, and now he and his friends get to relax for the rest of their stay on this world. But after eavesdropping on an argument between Miyagi and his double, the wolf learns that fame isn't all it's cracked up to be...

Time until next slide: 03:02:08:24…

“Uhhhhhhhg…” LegosiI collapsed onto Haru’s bed. This movie that Miyagi was making had a TON more action scenes than the group was let on. Not only did it take several attempts before the wolf grasped the concept of stage fighting, but he would mess up the few lines that he had over and over again because he couldn’t read the cue cards written in Romaji. LegosiI lost count of the scene takes after 40, spending almost twelve hours doing the same moves repeatedly in front of a quickly tiring film crew. His muscles ached with fatigue and his bones felt like they would crumble to dust.

“It’s okay, Legosi.” Haru perched herself up onto the bed next to the facedown wolf, running her little fingers through his fur and the long scratches given to him by Bill. “Miyagi was remarkably patient and kept everyone in line. I talked with him a little bit, and he says tomorrow will be spent on editing. We have the whole day tomorrow to rest.” The bunny took notice of her boyfriend’s tail, which gave a single weak wag. “Yaaaaaaaay…” LegosiI’s voice came out muffled from the pillow he had buried his face in.

The exhausted wolf turned his head to look at the clock. The red glowing numbers read out 9:45. “Is it okay if I sleep in here, Haru? It doesn’t feel right sleeping a foot away from… myself. And he snores!” The bunny gave off a short chuckle. “So do you, silly! Of course you can sleep with me.” She takes the covers and pulls them over her boyfriend and herself. She kisses the back of LegosiI’s head and says “Good night, my big wolf.” Before Haru can close her beady eyes, the wolf turns his head around and plants his own kiss on the bunny’s lips. “Good night, my little moon…” They both shut their eyes for some well deserved rest.

Time until next slide: 02:11:53:09…

It wouldn’t be until noon that the big wolf finally rose from his slumber. He looks around the bedroom to find Haru missing. (Must already be up…) LegosiI thought groggily. He heard someone knocking on the door, and then Louis’s voice from behind the wood. “Legosi, wake up! Lunch is ready.” The deer stands at the door until LegosiI opens it, rubbing his eyes. “Man,” the wolf starts to speak, “that was a great sleep! I really needed it after all that moving around and fighting.” He stretches until he hears his spine pop. Louis grins, saying “I bet! Now c’mon, Spot made subs for us.” The deer turns around and walks down the hall, followed closely by LegosiI.

When the wolf reaches the large kitchen, he is greeted by Haru munching on a veggie sub. “There you are, sleepyhead!” she says with a mouthful of spinach. “You were out like a light! You wouldn’t budge when I tried to wake you up!” Sitting next to the rabbit is Jack, who is scrolling through his phone with one hand, and holding an egg salad sub in the other. There are dark circles under his eyes, and LegosiI can hear his friend’s foot tap rapidly. He takes a seat next to the Labrador and speaks up. “Everything alright, Jack?”

“I can’t find a single article or mention of sliding!” Jack spat out. “We can’t be the only ones with sliding technology out there! It’s statistically impossible for us to be the only ones…” LegosiI put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “We’ve only been sliding for about a month, Jack, and have only faced a handful of different worlds. Take it easy.” The Golden dog puts his phone down and rubs his own head. “But we still have 60 hours left on this world! I don’t want all of that time to go to waste!” The wolf sighs before talking again. “If you haven’t found anything on sliding yet, then this world doesn’t have it. We’re staying in a pseudo-mansion, Jack! You should take some time to enjoy yourself! Rest up!” LegosiI grabs an egg salad sub that was made for him and takes a big bite. “I think I overheard Miyagi talking about a sauna somewhere around here. Why not use it to destress?” Jack takes a moment to think about his friend’s proposal before sighing. “That does sound good… I’ll ask Spot about it after lunch.”

Time until next slide: 02:06:42:01…

“Ahhhhhh… you were right, Legosi!” Jack is walking next to his friend down the hall, wiping his head with a bath towel. “I really needed that! The tennis court was amazing! There were softballs left and right!” LegosiI pats the dog on the back. “Yep! I’ve never seen you catch so many before! You were a golden blur!” The canines were reminiscing on the hours spent playing catch in Miyagi’s tennis room. The old wolf had a room filled with ball throwing machines that canine workers could use to burn energy. After they caught all that they could, LegosiI and Jack carried their spent bodies over to the sauna to wipe off the grime.

“Legosi!” The two friends hear Miyagi call out for his son, who is watching television in the spacious living room. They both hide behind a corner as a knee-jerk reaction, peeking around to see the elder wolf approach the young actor with a bag of something silver gripped firmly in his hand.

LegosiII turns his head around to meet his father. “You back from supervising the editing already, Dad?” Miyagi raises his empty head to silence his son. “Never mind that. Spot found this little baggie poking out of your mattress while he was cleaning your room.” The older wolf lifts said baggie up to eye level, the powder in it shining like coins. “Where did you get your hands on Silvervine?! This stuff is no joke, Legosi! A lot of celebrities have lost their careers because of this stuff, a few of which even lost their lives!” LegosiII’s ears fold down and he looks away from his worried father, caught. “I got it off some panther…”

Miyagi shakes his head and puts the baggie in his pocket. He moves forward and sits on the couch with his son. “Son,” he begins, “are you feeling okay? You’ve been a little off for about two weeks now. Is that how long you’ve been doing Silvervine?” LegosiII shakes his head. “No, I got that bag from the panther about three days ago.” The young wolf sighs before he feels his father pull his face towards him. Miyagi squints into LegosiII’s eyes for an uncomfortable amount of seconds before letting go of his snout. “Alright. I believe you. You don’t show any signs of drug use. I would know…” The older wolf stands up and walks towards the same hallway that Jack and LegosiI are eavesdropping from. “Is the panther close to here?” LegosiII rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, he’s in the neighborhood. Switches places from time to time.” Miyagi ponders to himself, before replying. “Thank you, Son.” He then walks out of the living room, where he finds the other two canines hiding.

An awkward silence fills the air around the three animals until Miyagi speaks a simple four words. “Watch over him, Bela.” LegosiI swallows a nervous lump in his throat. “I will, Miyagi-sama. And I’m sorry about how long I made yesterday feel…” The elder wolf chuckles for a second before waving his hand. “Don’t worry about it. You certainly provided us with a ton of footage, that’s for sure!” Both LegosiI and Jack giggle at Miyagi’s relaxed statement as he climbs up the stairs, presumably to his office. Jack taps LegosiI on the shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get dressed. Dinner should be in about an hour.”

Time until next slide: 01:09:47:11…

The rest of the evening went on without more confrontations. The slidestars and Miyagi’s family had another fantastic dinner, and went onto bed. LegosiI slept with his double again to make sure he didn’t try to sneak out to get another dose of silvervine. They woke up the next morning and LegosiI decided to get to know his double more while he was supervising him. By around 2 o’clock that afternoon, both wolves were sitting in beanbag chairs playing a one-on-one match on some FPS game. LegosiII was miles ahead of his ‘stunt double’, leading the score 9 to 2, while LegosiI fumbled around with the controller.

“BOOM!” The young actor leaps in his seat as he scores another kill. “Dude, you are trash! Have you ever played a video game before?!” LegosiI rubs his eyes before his character respawns. “I played some when I was younger, but I kind of grew out of it when high school rolled around.” The buff wolf looked back at the large flatscreen in front of him, trying to remember if he was the guy on top or on bottom. “Oh yeah?” LegosiII raised an eyebrow. “Where’d you go to school, Bela?”

LegosiI jittered as his character got killed again, but recomposed himself to answer his double’s question. “I went to Cherryton Academy.” LegosiII’s eyes widened. “The same academy that Louis, heir to the Horns Conglomerate graduated from last year?”

“Yep, the very same.” LegosiI chuckled. “We grew to be good friends during our time there.”

“So that’s why he’s with you!” The actor paused the game to focus more on the conversation. “Guess the little guy got sick of the expectations of fame and ran off with you. I admire his courage to live a middle-class life.” LegosiII sighed. “Wish I had the same bravery…”

“Are you… not happy here?” LegosiI turned his full body to face the actor. “You have both of your parents, and a lot of people who enjoy watching you.” (Why hasn’t anyone else questioned why Louis is with us if the one on this world is missing?) LegosiII scratches the back of his head. “The thing is, I’m quite lucky to have such a strong relationship with my family while being in the movie bizz. They’re supportive, caring, and they genuinely love each other AND me.” The actor puts his controller down. “But I’m just… tired of the spotlight. Anytime I go out, I have to bring a bodyguard in order to handle the crazed fans. Sometimes, I just want time to myself, you know?”

“Absolutely!” LegosiI replied. “I totally get it, Legosi! I can’t stand performing or garnering the attention. If my girlfriend didn’t talk me into it, or if my car wasn’t in the shop with no where to stay, I don’t think I’d be here.” The wolf’s stature grew stiff. “I mean- not that my friends and I HAVEN’T enjoyed our time here!”

LegosiII raises his hand. “Heh, no need to apologize. I’m really grateful my dad found you! The audience won’t be able to tell the difference when this movie gets released!” The actor checks his phone and pulls up the calendar app. “In fact, tomorrow should be the last day of filming! My dad said he wanted some dubbing done over the fight scenes you filmed, so we’re going in the recording booth near the editing station to get that squared away.”

LegosiI pats his double on the back. “What happens after that?” LegosiII ponders on this for a bit before answering. “I think I’ll talk with dad about taking some time off. Give myself time to reappreciate what I do and get my passion back.” LegosiI smiles, replying, “I’m sure Miyagi-sama will allow it. He loves you, afterall!” Both wolves nod and resume the FPS match, the young actor providing pointers to the inexperienced canine.

Time until next slide: 00:17:42:29…

“Ah, it’s good to see you all already up!” Miyagi takes a seat at the breakfast table, surprised to see his son and guests there enjoying their food. “I guess you’re ready to dub the fight scenes and finish this phase of the movie, eh my boy?” The elder wolf leans over and scratches behind LegosiII’s ear, prompting the actor’s tail to wag. LegosiII nods with a mouthful of eggs. Miyagi turns his attention to Louis. “Louis, how has your father accepted your choice to leave the family business?” The red deer pauses his chewing and gives the elder wolf a confused look. LegosiI leans over and whispers to Louis what he learned about his double from LegosiII. “Ah, yes.” The deer wipes his mouth. “My father and I haven’t been on speaking terms since I moved out, but my butler Yuta says he’s calmed down.”

Miyagi nods softly before looking towards LegosiI. “Bela, today’s the day your car gets fixed, correct?” LegosiI shrugs his shoulders. “It won’t be ready until 7 to midnight. We can’t stay the night over, though. Gotta go as soon as possible.” The wolf gets up from the table with his plate. “Miyagi-sama, my friends and I can’t thank you enough for providing shelter for us! We’ve all had a great time!” Haru, Jack, and Louis all nod their heads. Miyagi smiles, saying “The pleasure was all mine. I needed a stunt double, and I’ve known Oguma for several years, so to see his son associate with you let me know that you would be good company.” The older wolf cuts a slice out of his pancakes. “Now, let’s say we get this done?” LegosiII gives a thumbs up. “I’ll give it my all, Dad!” Miyagi laughs. “Atta boy, Legosi!” After 15 minutes, everyone clears the table, and goes off to their rooms and the shower to prepare for the day. Before he leaves the dining room, however, LegosiII feels his pocket for a baggie. Reconfirming that he did in fact reclaim the silvervine from his father’s desk, the young actor heads up the stairs to make himself presentable.

Time until next slide: 00:15:21:19…

It is half past 8 in the morning at the recording studio. LegosiI and the others are sitting in the waiting room outside of the booth. Miyagi and another iteration of Hiroki the porcupine sit at the editing table, waiting for the actor to come out of the bathroom and record his lines. They don’t have to wait long, as LegosiII rushes into the booth with wide eyes.

“Are we ready, old man?” The young actor speaks a little too loudly into the microphone, prompting Hiroki to winch, as he’s wearing the headphones. After adjusting the volume, the porcupine gives a thumbs up, leading Miyagi to push a talk button at the control panel. “All good here son. Loving the energy!” He presses another button to turn on a teleprompter, which has the actor’s lines. LegosiII scans them rapidly before belting out the line on top. “I WON’T LET YOU HURT MY GIRL, YOU BASTARDS!!!” The wolf then proceeds to throw a punch, reenacting the stunt choreography that LegosiI performed three days prior.

Hiroki grasps his headphones and pulls them off of his head. “Ow! Legosi’s too damn loud!” Miyagi presses the talk button on the console. “Son, I like the enthusiasm, but it’s a bit much. We’re gonna need you to tone it down a little.” The elder wolf takes a closer look into his son’s eyes, which twitch erratically. (Wait a minute…) He presses the button again. “Legosi, did you take the silvervine from my desk?” The young actor chokes on the glass of water he had with him. In a panic, LegosiII makes a bolt for the booth door. In the process, he drops the glass, shattering it. He bumps his knee on the wall and tumbles down.

“LEGOSI!!!” Miyagi rushes out of the recording booth and practically tears the sound booth’s door off of its hinges. He finds his son on the ground with a large gash travelling down his leg, over one of the major arteries. A small puddle of blood has already pooled onto the floor underneath LegosiII. LegosiI and the others crowd behind Miyagi as he scoops his son up. He turns to the group with a look of distress. “Don’t just stand there, call the hospital!” Haru motions for Hiroki. “Can I borrow your phone? I’ve… got bad service.” The bunny didn’t want to explain how her friends and her didn’t have phone plans on this world, or any other they travelled to, rendering their primary function inaccessible. The porcupine relents and Haru wastes no time contacting emergency services.

Time until next slide: 00:14:50:26…

Within thirty minutes of the phone call, Miyagi, his son, and the slidestars were in the hospital. LegosiII was immediately taken to the ER, while the others sat in the waiting room. Miyagi has his head in his hands, shaking. “Oh God, please don’t take my baby boy… I’m sorry…” LegosiI, sitting next to the elder wolf, puts his hand on his back. Miyagi lifts his head for a moment to look at the younger wolf.

“Hey.” LegosiI began to speak. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. Your son loves you and everything that you have done for him. Yesterday, he told me about how he wanted to discuss taking a break from acting. I think the stress just got to him.” The corners of Miyagi’s lips lift up into a meek smile. He straightens his back out a little bit. “Thank you, Bela. Y’know, you remind me of him more and more.”

Miyagi and LegosiI talk further about LegosiII for the next hour or so, before a nurse steps into the waiting room. To the group’s surprise, its another iteration of Sam. “Miyagi san, I have good news.” The zebra flips through their clipboard. “Legosi has been cleansed of the silvervine. Since it was his first time taking the drug, he’ll have to stay here for a couple of days for observation. However,” they place the clipboard down. “he’s lost a liter of blood, and will need new blood donated. We can only take a pint from you due to your age. We’ll need another donor for the other pint.”

LegosiI stands up, helping Miyagi out of the chair as well. “I’m willing to give some blood.” Sam shrugs their shoulders. “Alright, we’ll test your blood to see if it’s compatible, and if so, take the two of you to the blood room. Please follow me.” Miyagi, LegosiI, and Sam exit through the door at the end of the room.

Time until next slide: 00:11:53:00…

At noon sharp, Miyagi and LegosiI emerge from the blood room and reconvene with Haru, Louis, and Jack. Haru runs to her boyfriend and leaps up to his chest. “Thank goodness you’re okay! It was taking so long, we feared something went wrong. How’s Legosi?” Miyagi stares at the rabbit. “Both of them are going to be okay.” Haru raises an eyebrow. “Both?” LegosiI sets his girlfriend down. “No need to pretend anymore, Haru. He knows the truth about us.” The wolf’s friends widen their eyes. Silence fills the air before Jack breaks it. “How?”

LegosiI looks over to his best friend. “They had to test my blood, Jack. No surprise, my blood matched my double’s flawlessly. After that, I had to tell Miyagi everything.” The elder wolf walks up to Jack. “So it’s true? You guys are really travelers from another planet?” Jack raises a finger. “Same planet, but different dimensions. On our world, the Japanese didn’t adopt roman letters into their official written language, and kept using traditional hiragana.” Miyagi takes a seat next to the Labrador. “And me? Did I really not stay with Leano?” LegosiI sighs, kneeling over to match eye contact. “Correct. My mother made sure that you couldn’t find her. She only cared about having a child before her Komodo genes took over. She didn’t think anyone could love her once the changes became too great to ignore.”

Miyagi stays in the chair, mouth agape as he processes the information he has just been given. “Wow, that’s…” He shakes his head before returning his attention to Jack. “So I’m guessing the car thing was a coverup for when you all have to… ‘slide’, is that it.?” The golden dog nods. “We’ve been sliding for a month, and we’re no closer to finding our way home.” LegosiI hugs Jack. “I know we’re gonna find a way, Jack. Just give it time.”

Time until next slide: 00:00:01:22…

The remainder of the day seemed to melt away into a sea of interactions. First by some press who wanted to know about LegosiII’s condition, which was calmed down when Louis posed as his double to make a cover up. Then Leano arrived at the hospital to see her son, and tears of relief were shed. LegosiI explained the whole thing to her and his double, with Miyagi backing him up. Finally, at around ten to midnight, the group was back at the mansion. Leano opted to stay with her son at the hospital, while Miyagi took the group home so they could slide in private. Jack and Haru were saying their goodbyes to the elder wolf and Spot, while Louis went and had a heart to heart with LegosiI.

“I’m glad we came here, Legosi.” The deer looked on to Miyagi, who was taking a selfie with Jack. “I understand more than anyone the pressures of fame and expectations. Frankly, I don’t know how I didn’t end up using more than just cigarettes to cope. My father was a cold deer, I’ve explained before. But your father seems to have been a real help to this world’s ‘you’, and even then, he still resorted to drug use.” LegosiI turns to face Louis. “What are you getting at?” Louis sheds a tear. “I’m saying that it’s a good thing we intervened in the life of your double. It might not have worked out for me back in the ‘ShiShiSentai’ world, but that shouldn’t be a deterrent from helping where we can.”

LegosiI smiles and pulls Louis into a hug. “I’m glad you’re starting to feel better, Louis.” The deer chuckles. “It’s a start, that’s for certain. It’ll still be a while…” The wolf responds, “We have more time than anyone else.” Their conversation is cut short by a loud whirring and flashing blue lights. The wolf and deer look over to see that Jack has just opened the vortex, and is waving for them to come on. The two animals walk over to the rest of the group. Jack hands LegosiI the timer. “Here, you hold onto it this slide.” He pats his shoulder before leaping into the vortex. Haru follows after Jack, who is preceded by Louis. Before LegosiI takes his jump, he turns around and gives Miyagi a farewell hug. “I’m real happy I got to meet you, Dad. I love you.” The elder wolf’s eyes begin to water. “I love you too, Legosi. Always have, and will continue to do so, no matter what version of you my son may be.” With a final nod, LegosiI breaks the embrace and leaps into the vortex, closing it behind him. Miyagi and Spot are left standing in their front yard, looking up at the stars. (This would make a great series.) Miygai thinks to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't have strong motivations for this chapter, but I knew I couldn't leave this story on a cliffhanger before going on a break. As such, this chapter's pace is admittedly rushed. I'd understand if you felt it was unsatisfactory, but I just had to get this adventure done with before I could focus on others. Like before, I have no set schedule for when the next chapter will come out. It'll be done when it's done. Thank you for your patience.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic that I have written that hasn't been lost to time and left behind in my high school years. This series was inspired by MasakoX's "What if?" Dragon Ball videos on YouTube, where he takes specific moments and characters in Dragon Ball, and tells the whole history if they had done something different. I wanted to explore how different Beastars would be if things had gone an alternate route.


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